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Jon Jones recently went on a Twitter tirade against former rival Daniel Cormier regarding comments about the former's status as the UFC's Greatest of All Time.
In an interview with MMAFighting.com, Cormier recently said that Jones' past issues with banned substances eliminates him from the GOAT conversation.
“One of the most talented guys you’ll ever meet but again for me bad [drug] tests eliminate you from the conversation,” Cormier said. “I just cannot understand how that is so hard to comprehend in a sport where we’re fighting each other. In baseball, bad tests eliminate you from being considered and being in the Hall of Fame and you’re hitting a ball. You’re hitting an object that has no feeling. In fighting, you’re punching people, human beings, and you have bad tests that eliminates you. It’s just too dangerous."
As expected, Cormier's comments didn't sit well with Jon Jones, who took to social media to give his rebuttal.
Jones started off by addressing the issues with drug testing:
Jones then took shots at Cormier for retiring after coming off a loss.
Earlier this year, Cormier put a bow on his storied MMA career after a third fight against Stipe Miocic. Cormier and Miocic split their first two meetings for the UFC heavyweight championship.
In the trilogy bout, Cormier lost via unanimous decision and failed to end his career on a high note.
Jon Jones stated that his competitive drive would not let him go out in such a manner.
Jon Jones concluded (sort of) by saying that Cormier did not have what it takes to remain at a high level and that he had no leverage to speak about qualifications for being the GOAT.
While their rivalry inside the cage may have ended years ago, the war of words between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier appear to be far from over.
Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier's intense rivalry revisited
When talking about rivalries in mixed martial arts, quite a few stand out:
Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz
Georges St-Pierre vs. BJ Penn
Rashad Evans vs. Rampage Jackson
The rivalry that stands out the most however, has to be the one between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier.
After a testy backstage interaction, the two eventually went head to head inside the Octagon, with Jones defending the UFC light heavyweight championship against Cormier in 2015
Jones dominated Cormier en route to a unanimous decision win, handing the latter his first career loss.
Later that year, Jones would get into some trouble outside of the Octagon and would end up getting stripped of the 205-pound title.
In Jon Jones' absence, Cormier took over the division, defeating Anthony Johnson to capture the vacant title.
Cormier would go on an impressive title run of his own, until finally meeting up with Jones once again in a rematch in 2017.
Jones would knock Cormier out to regain the title, but he would test positive for a banned substance, leading to the result being overturned. Cormier would end up retaining the light heavyweight strap.
The two would never cross paths again, as Cormier would relinquish the light heavyweight title and move up to heavyweight for his last four career bouts.
Jon Jones, meanwhile, returned to reclaim the UFC light heavyweight championship in 2018 and then went on to defend it four more times. Earlier this year, Jones also relinquished the title in preparation for his own move to the heavyweight division.
