In their battle for light heavyweight supremacy, Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier produced arguably the most iconic rivalry in the history of the sport.
The two men were both at the top of their game at the same time but since Cormier has retired, his former foe has continued to stay at the pinnacle.
Cormier recently reunited with Ryan Clark for a reunion episode of their ESPN MMA show, "DC & RC".
During the episode, Clark spoke about the new champions that have stuck their flags into the ground throughout 2024.
The two frontrunners for 2024's fighter of the year in particular, Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria, have carved out instantly memorable title runs that will go down in the history books.
Clark used this example to speak about how incredible it is that in 2024, Jones is still a UFC champion and Cormier couldn't help but agree:
“This dude literally – like, hey man, I don’t care how you feel about him. I might not have messed with the dude on that level, but how?! It’s been – I think he was a champion in 2011 for the first time. That’s a crazy thought! That through all that, all those dudes, I mean three generations of players."
"DC" went on to compare Jones' incredible longevity to Tom Brady playing thirty years at the top of the NFL because as he correctly pointed out, "Bones" has been main event calibre for the majority of his career.
“It’s almost impossible, especially to do it for a long time,” Cormier said. “That’s why when you watch a guy like Usman or Volkanovski, where they just kind of go, and they’re rolling, right? It seems like they’re unbeatable.
“… The whole time that you’re up and you’re the man, and you’re laying in that big, beautiful house, there’s a young man that doesn’t have what you have. As you’re doing a lot, as you’re still trying to be the best, he’s doing like a little bit more because he wants for what you have. It’s like having a guy just walking you down constantly. So, it’s very difficult. You have to continue to get better.”
Watch the full episode below:
