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It seemed like Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier had put their bitter rivalry behind them before UFC 285. After sharing the octagon twice (UFC 182 and UFC 214), it appeared that the two had agreed to work together professionally.
Jon Jones defeated Ciryl Gane in the first round of UFC 285 to achieve his dream of becoming the world heavyweight champion. The MMA community as a whole was impressed by Jones' performance, particularly considering he had been away from the sport for over three years. With this victory, there appears to be a general consensus among fight fans that Jones is the greatest MMA fighter to ever grace the UFC octagon.
The UFC recently released footage of the UFC broadcast team's cage-side reaction to Jones' victory, which included Daniel Cormier, Joe Rogan, and Jon Anik. While Jon Jones' fans in the arena were overjoyed, Cormier appeared perplexed as to what caused Ciryl Gane to tap out.
The reaction prompted fans to believe that Cormier was envious of his arch-rival Jones' success and was unable to conceal his emotions.
Cormier has now come out and defended his post-fight reaction, claiming that he couldn't legitimately see the submission from where he was seated. He wrote on Twitter:
"Not bitter at all, legit couldn’t see what he had tapped to until we saw the different camera angle. You guys sure can create things. I really don’t care either way, I’m here to call fights only."
Check out Cormier's tweet below:
Daniel Cormier is confident that Stipe Miocic will be a bigger challenge for Jon Jones
Following his victory over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, Jon Jones seized the opportunity to call out former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic for a potential fight in the future.
The idea of the fight appears to have been approved by UFC President Dana White. He confirmed at the post-fight press conference that Jones will lock horns with Miocic for his first heavyweight title defense.
Daniel Cormier weighed in on the potential clash in a post-fight interview with ESPN. Cormier stated that Miocic's wrestling background and experience should pose a bigger challenge for Jones:
“This will be a much tougher fight. And honestly, most thought that it should be Stipe Miocic in the octagon tonight. But Ciryl Gane was the one that was chosen to fight. Many thought he could present some real challenges to Jones. But it was proven very quickly that they weren’t on the same level. Stipe Miocic, though, will be much tougher for Jon Jones. Because not only does he have the wrestling to defend takedowns, he also is a champion himself with a lot of championship experience.”
Check out the interview below:
