Interview: Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier talk about UFC 182, their personal rivalry and more

UFC is set to kick off 2015 with one of the most anticipated bouts in the organization’s history, with Jon “Bones” Jones putting his Light Heavyweight title on the line against Daniel Cormier. Although the fight was initially scheduled for UFC 178, Jon suffered a leg injury, forcing UFC to postpone the fight. During the buildup for the upcoming bout, both athletes were involved in a fist fight back in August during a press tour and then a heated exchange on – air during their interview with ESPN soon after.

Both men will finally put an end to all the talks and let their fists do the talking come January 3rd (January 4th in India) inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Cormier will go into the fight as the fan favorite, while the defending champion Jones has had a love - hate relationship with the passionate fanbase. The bad blood has been brewing between the two for years now, as Cormier looks to put an end to Jon’s impressive run as the champion.

Widely considered as the number one pound for pound fighter in the world today, Jon Jones will face a worthy adversary in Cormier, who came 4th in the 2004 Olympics in freestyle wrestling. Both fighters are technically undefeated, and have the opportunity to knock the other off their perch. Both men recently took part in a media conference call to hype UFC 182, and below is a transcript of the call.

1. Given all the talk and all the war words, the bad blood going into this fight, do you think it’s possible to bury the hatchet Saturday night? Do you think you’ll shake hands afterwards and repair the relationship?

Daniel Cormier: You know, you gain a level of respect by sharing the Octagon with someone - I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what’s going to happen after the fight. It doesn’t really matter to me one way or the other obviously.

Jon “Bones” Jones: Every guy I’ve beat I’ve had a pretty solid relationship with. I’m cordial. And they’re cordial. And I just kind of go on about my merry life.

2. Most of the martial artists agree that if Cormier managed to close the distance he had a fair chance to win but the thing is Daniel (fought) his wrestling, has fought guys are pretty slow and he hasn’t fought the type of fighter that Jones is, you know, with his range and crafty combinations in striking? And therefore Jones enters the fight as a heavy favorite. What do you guys think about that assessment, Cormier and Jones?

Daniel Cormier: You know, there’s no one way for anyone to win a fight. I think people are kind of getting like very narrow-minded in terms of how this fight can play out. How one guy has to win or one guy has to win. There is no set way in how I have to win this fight. I mean, if I don’t secure take-downs that doesn’t mean that I cannot win this fight. So I think we need to look at it in a broader - a little broader, instead of being so narrow minded.

Jon “Bones” Jones: I love the fact that people assume that if Daniel takes me down he wins the fight. I love how people assume that he needs to get close to me and then I’m suddenly at some type of a disadvantage. Honestly man I’m so secure in my abilities as a fighter; in the clinch, dirty-boxing, my jiu-jitsu, my top game, my bottom game, about my wrestling.

I really - I have no insecurities when it comes to my skill-set so I mean Rashad Evans - he’s like “to beat Jon you’ve got to get in his chest.” “I’m like, okay.” With me knowing that you think I’m not preparing anything close range, anything from the bottom, anything - I just find it very fascinating. The whole thing - very fascinating.

3. And Daniel how do you feel about the way the fight’s been marketed thus far?

Daniel Cormier: You know what the crazy thing is, is like when you look at that video how am I really painted in a bright light for the things that I was saying? So I’m not necessarily, I’m not upset about it anyway. They can only use the stuff that we said. If I didn’t say it or if I didn’t do it they couldn’t use it. So it doesn’t really matter I guess. It’s stuff that I said, it’s stuff that I did. So, when you do things obviously there’s a consequence to every action and my action was being petty and they used it.

And you know what man? It’s got people excited. People want to watch us fight. And that’s a big deal.

4. So gentlemen it’s pretty clear that you don’t like each other very much as people at least from the promotional videos - that’s what it seems like. What do you like about your opponent most as a fighter?

Daniel Cormier: Well first off I like, I like a lot of his abilities. I like his creativeness inside of the Octagon. Confidence in himself and anytime a person wins as many fights as he has in a row, they deserve a level of respect. And at the level that he’s won it’s hard not to almost admire that to a degree.

But yes there’s a number of things that I like about him inside of the cage.

Jon “Bones” Jones: I wouldn’t necessarily say that there’s anything I like about him. I do find - I do respect that he’s able to use his frame so successfully, you know, being a short guy and thicker guy and not, I mean you look at him you don’t - he doesn’t - his body type doesn’t scream athlete, but he’s been able to do some amazing thing both in the sport of wrestling and in his MMA career.

So, I think he can be somewhat of an inspiration for people who are, you know, are built like him and it proves that you can do great things just the matter of your mindset and how you use your body.

5. About the brawl and some of the fallout from the brawl this summer, Jon you parted with Nike after the brawl, Nike, and you soon found a deal with Reebok. At the time we were told the reason for the Nike falling out was the brawl with Daniel. But the timing coincided roughly with the UFC working out a sponsorship deal with Reebok and then you got on with Reebok after the brawl, after the Nike dropping. Was the stated reason for the fallout with Nike the only reason for switching to Reebok for you personally in the sponsorship? Is there something that you can tell us now that you couldn’t tell us then about the switch?

And then just a question for both guys, you know, both of you guys presume we’re going to enter the Octagon on Saturday night with sponsor insignia showing - a lot of guys that I’ve talked to aren’t thrilled with the sponsors being told they’re not going to be welcome in the Octagon sometime next year. Given your status in the sport and the platform that you guys enjoy, do you feel that any obligation to speak up on behalf of the interest of the guys that it may suffer some loss of income because of the bigger Reebok deal?

Jon “Bones” Jones: So I’ll start with the Nike deal. The truth about the Nike deal is - and you know when I was in front of the commission I definitely worded it wrong. Nike did not drop me because of that fight. And I kind of owe an apology to Nike for saying that they dropped me because of the fight. They actually didn’t. Nike’s been known to stick by their athletes through much worse things than a brawl in the middle of the MGM. The truth is Nike didn’t seem as if they wanted to move forward in the field of MMA. They weren’t activating me in the way that they said they would. They promised me a lot of commercials and just all types of stuff outside of the financial and the merchandise.

And my rep came to me and say, “Hey Jon I’m sorry, I know we promised you this, but I don’t think we’re moving in that direction.” So they said, “We will keep you on board as long as you want to be on board because it’s a pleasure to work with you and obviously we’ll do everything with you outside of the Octagon. But, you know, your deal is still there.” I just finished the second year of my deal and I was going to get ready to start my third year of the deal and I told them, I said, “You know what? If you guys aren’t too serious about martial arts then I don’t want to be a part of the company. And I would rather, you know, I would - hopefully I can respectfully leave.” And they said, “You know, Jon, if you, you know, don’t like the deal we have in place then, you know, we’ll give you that out.”

So I was supposed to be out anyways. We talked about it, it was already official. Everyone at the headquarters knew. My team knew that I wasn’t going to do my third year with Nike. And then we got in the brawl. And my rep called me and he said, “Jon, I know we were going to wait another month or two before announcing that or before, you know, having you sign a contract to release you but since you got in this fight let’s just have you sign this paperwork now and let’s just, you know, not waste your time and allow you to go your own way.” So the truth of the matter is I did not get dropped by Nike. It was a mutual thing, something that we had discussed months before the actual fight. And now I’m with Reebok and I’m so excited to be with Reebok. It’s an awesome deal. These guys - have taken mixed martial arts very seriously and they’re taking me very seriously as an athlete. And I’m just very grateful to be a part of this company. A company that appreciates me and my sport as much as I appreciate being with them.

6. Jon, I wanted to start with you. And I had read the dot com piece that you had said that you no longer really - you have embraced the role of the villain to paraphrase what you were saying. And when did you start embracing it? Because you’ve been really resistant on that in the past.

Jon “Bones” Jones: Yes I have been pretty resistant. I mean no one wants to be the bad guy. But at the same time people tag me to be the bad guy. And I’ve totally learned to just let go, let it go. You know, when I read my comments on Twitter and Instagram I realize man, do I - I really do inspire people and touch people. And people really do appreciate who I am as a martial artist.

And then when I look at some of the people who write me negative messages it’s always so dumb. It’s like so dumb. It’s like dude you’re fake. I’ve been hearing that I’m fake for so many years. It’s like, okay, who cares if I’m fake. Like I win fights and that’s what I’m here to do. I’m not here to win you over in my personality. I’m here to fight. That’s ultimately my job. I look at the people who hate on me and it’s never anything solid. It’s like dude you poke people in the eyes in your fight. Okay, that’s an accident. Or hey you’re fake, or hey you’re bigger than the other like heavyweight. It’s just always real stupid stuff. So I’ve learned to kind of laugh at it. And, I’m just waiting for the person who really hates me that gives me a legit answer or reason. And no one that has ever really given me anything solid outside of calling me fake.

I mean like what are we - in high school? I’m a grown man. I’m like okay you’re calling me fake? You can’t call my work ethic fake and the things I’ve achieved fake. There’s nothing - I just find it funny. I really do find it funny. I’ve learned to just kind of laugh at it and just go with it. If that’s the best thing you’ve go on me it’s like that’s not a bad thing at all. You sound like a girl calling me fake. So yes, so that’s that.

7. I just want to you guys thoughts - what do you guys each think is going to be the key to the fight?

Jon “Bones” Jones: The key to the fight for me is just to go out there and do what I’ve always done; to love the sport, to enjoy the moment, to have fun, to realize what a gift it is to be able to be out there in front of all these people - just to be myself man, confident, young, fast, athletic, enjoying it. And let everything take care of itself. I’ve done everything I can to win the fight. I’ve trained. My cardio is great. My tactics are great. My playbook is rehearsed.

And now I’m going to go out there and do what I’ve always done. If I just go out there and do what I’ve always done - have fun, play the game that I really do love I’ll be all right.

Daniel Cormier: I think it boils down to belief man. Believe that this can be done. You know, a lot of times people don’t believe, people don’t believe when they’re staring at a hill that may be higher or a mountain that seems that it can’t be climbed. I think it’s belief; believing in yourself, believing in your skills, believing in your team, believing in everything that you’ve done to this point. Believing that is all enough. It all was done to get this job - Saturday night. To get it done on Saturday night you have to believe.

And, that’s something I have. I have a lot of belief in myself. I have a lot of belief in this match-up.

8. It seems as though there’s layoff that has happened between the time you were scheduled to fight up until now. This kind of subsided this rivalry that was going on between you two. So would you say that that’s the case? Basically did the layoff help kind of subside the rivalry?

Daniel Cormier: I don’t think so. I think the rivalry is still there. But Jon and I haven’t fought. We haven’t fought before so - when I think of rivalries I think of fights that are sporting events where you have people going back and forth. I think the Lakers and Celtics. I think great trilogy fights. I think football teams that are rivals that are pretty equal.

So we haven’t fought. But in terms of the heat between us I don’t think that’s gone anywhere. I just think that now you see two guys that are only six days away from fighting. Like what’s the point in us yelling and screaming at each other anymore. That’s done. That’s done. Before it was all we could do to try and get to each other because we were so far away from the fight. The fight’s only six days now. There’s no point to that anymore. What’s it going to do? All that arguing, all the yelling, all the name calling - it motivated me through my training. So what’s the point in it anymore? It serves no more purpose.

Jon “Bones” Jones: Well I would have to agree. You know, right now the fight is - it’s here. The fight is here. There’s nothing that could be said or anything that - to change the outcome of this fight. The work is done. The camp is over. And for me to sit here and be unprofessional and try to insult him and come at him and get in this bickering mess to sell a few more pay-per-views is just - I don’t need to. I don’t need it.

The fight’s going to sell. And the work’s already been done. There’s a time and place for everything. And all the beef and all the craziness was appropriate then. It motivated me, I’m sure it motivated him to have great camps. And now the fight is here. Now it’s time to think.

9. Entering the fight were you disappointed that it got moved back? Did it make it more difficult for you? Or did the extra time help in your preparation? And do you feel you’ll give the fans a better fight because of the layoff?

Daniel Cormier: I believe it helped me. I mean anytime you get a UFC title fight you don’t necessarily want it on short notice. Not that it was real short notice. I got the call nine weeks before the first fight. But at about six weeks I had some family stuff I needed to do and I could not cancel the family stuff. So I went and did that and I came back and I trained with Phil Davis. And after three rounds of hard sparring I actually got tired and I was like “man I don’t know how I’m going to add these next two rounds over the course of six weeks, five weeks.” I was like, “you know, it’s going to be very difficult for me.”

And then Jon got hurt like the very next day or something. So then I had - like it was like a sigh of relief. It was like now I’m going to get my title fight under the right circumstances, why I get a full training camp. I get to focus on it for many months and I give myself the best opportunity to win this fight. So for me it’s been a complete blessing. It’s been a - it was a great turn of events. Now the people were so excited for September but I believe that we will give a good fight this weekend just as we would have before.

Jon “Bones” Jones: For me I do believe that the fight being prolonged worked in Daniel’s favor. But at the same time I was ready for the fight then and I’m ready for the fight now. You know, it’s not like Daniel’s got more time to train and I’ve not using my time. We both have had more time to focus on this fight and on each other. And I think that’s why it’s going to be a great fight. One thing that I love about this situation is there is no excuse for his performance or my performance when we get out there.

When I fought ‘Rampage’ Jackson he hired the whole MusclePharm build-in and he had a whole stack of people working on his body and on his mind for the fight. Lyoto Machida hired a new shrink and conditioning coach and he brought in all these people. Everybody who fights against me they claim it’s the best camp of their career; they’re in the best shape of their career. And that’s exactly the way I want them. To beat Daniel on a short notice and for him to say, “you know, I didn’t have my camp right and man it kind of took my off surprise.”