Jon Jones on Daniel Cormier: ‘I Want to Crush His Confidence, I Want to Break His Will’
Jon Jones isn’t finished with Daniel Cormier yet.
In what has been one of the most heated rivalries in the history of the sport, Jones thought he had put Cormier behind him last July when he earned a third round knockout to notch his second victory over the former Olympian.
After the fight, Jones tested positive for a banned substance and his win was overturned to a no contest. Since that time, Jones has been sidelined while waiting to find out his fate from USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) while Cormier has gone onto defend the light heavyweight title and just recently became heavyweight champion as well with a knockout against Stipe Miocic.
Following that fight, Jones admits he struggled with his feelings about Cormier holding two titles — a goal he had set for himself years ago but never achieved — while knowing deep down that he had gotten the better of the ‘double champ’ on two previous occasions.
“A part of me was upset at first. First, I was surprised. Then I became a little upset because Daniel Cormier was crowned the first heavyweight and light heavyweight champion and in my heart I know that Daniel Cormier is not the light heavyweight champion, so it bothered me at first,” Jones told RT Sport in Russia.
“The next day after a few hours of being awake I realized I cannot be a hater. Someone else’s success has nothing to do with me. What God has for Daniel Cormier is for Daniel Cormier and what he has for me is for me, and so I had to find a place in my heart to be happy for him.”
That being said, Jones knows he’s not done with Cormier yet even as the reigning heavyweight and light heavyweight champion prepares for retirement in March 2019.
Cormier has said he wants to call it a career by the time he turns 40 and by all accounts his next and perhaps final fight will come against WWE superstar and former UFC champion Brock Lesnar.
Still, Jones isn’t giving up hope that he could see Cormier staring back at him from across the Octagon again. Considering he’s the only blemish on an otherwise perfect resume, Jones knows that Cormier would like nothing more than to get another bite at the apple.
And then Jones plans on beating him again.
“I think that beating him a third time would really do something to his confidence,” Jones explained. “In his head, I feel like he thinks he can still beat me, especially because the fight was going fairly well until I knocked him out. I want to crush his confidence. I want to let him know that I’m going to be Cael Sanderson. Cael Sanderson is a wrestler who beat Daniel Cormier seven times and I’m going to be his Cael Sanderson.
“He said to me once, ‘Jon Jones, I’ll always be that kid in your bracket,’ meaning he will always be in the same tournament as me. I’m sure he regrets that because we always see who ends up in the first place position when we go up against each other, but I want to break his will. I want to break the idea of him thinking he can beat me. I believe doing that at light heavyweight would be the smartest thing to do, for a third time.”
Jones would then like to face Cormier for a fourth and final time to then become heavyweight champion.
“Leading into our fourth fight, a possible fourth fight for the heavyweight championship of the world, his confidence won’t be in the right spot,” Jones said. “It won’t, and I think it will help me take that fourth victory over him and that heavyweight championship from him. I think I have his number.
“No matter how hard he trains, I train a little bit harder. I’m a little bit younger, a bit longer, a little cuter.”
