Daniel Cormier has once again found himself in the crosshairs of longtime rival Jon Jones—but this time, he’s not staying quiet.
The former two-division UFC champion sparked the latest exchange during the UFC 318 Weigh-In Show, when asked a playful question: if he could fight any "enemy," where would it be? Cormier laughed and responded, “at my house,” adding, “I kind of want the ability to kill him.”
That offhanded, unnamed jab quickly made waves—and apparently struck a nerve. Jones, in a series of now-deleted tweets, lashed out, claiming he had already “buried” Cormier twice in the Octagon, that he lives “rent-free” in his rival’s head, and that their fights were the most “painful things to happen” in Cormier’s life.
But according to Cormier, he never named Jones, nor was he talking about him directly.
“Obviously when you’re dealing with someone like this, it immediately sparks him,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “[Jones tweeted his response], not true. I never said I wanted to kill him at my house. ...”
Cormier believes Jones’ reaction says more about his insecurity than anything else—and that his recent behavior has turned him into more of a punchline than a legend.
“A lot of behaviors lately have a lot of people laughing about him, and not with him. ... [Jones tweets again about me], a lot to unpack there. One, I do a job where I talk about the biggest things in the sport. So I can’t omit that in talking about Jon Jones because of our history. No, actually, because of our history, people want my take on what’s happening with Jon Jones more than anybody. So I give my take as a part of my job. ..."
And despite their past rivalry, Cormier says that chapter is closed—for good.
“I can’t let a person in my head that at this point in my life there’s nothing we can do about it. We ain’t fighting no more. There’s nothing we can do.”
Even when show host Dan Hellie tried to coax Cormier into naming names—asking if the person rhymed with “Jones”—Cormier laughed it off, sticking to his vague answer. He later explained that the entire segment was meant to be lighthearted and offbeat, not a serious callout.
Still, it was one specific line in Jones’ tweet that rubbed Cormier the wrong way: the suggestion that losing to Jones was the most painful experience of his life.
“Only an insecure person would go, immediately, that ‘he’s talking about me,’” Cormier explained. “No, maybe I wasn’t. But maybe I was. You don’t know. But again, I didn’t say a name on purpose. ...
“It sucked to lose. and it hurt a lot more in 2017. It doesn’t hurt today. That’s eight years past. I’m not stuck on that. Also, you can’t say that you’re the most painful thing that’s happened in a person’s life when they’ve lost a child. That’s the craziest thing in the world, ... their father got murdered. He knows that, but you’re dealing with a different type of human being.”
Jones recently announced his return to the UFC drug testing pool, after claiming retirement earlier this year. Though no test results have confirmed active participation, the heavyweight division is moving forward without him—Tom Aspinall has been promoted to undisputed champion.
Regardless of Jones’ future, Cormier says his past guarantees that people will keep asking him for insight—and he won’t hold back when he has something to say.
“I’m only talking about what is the news now, and also how stupid he is,” Cormier said. “He just really is not the smartest person, and once again it’s proven. ...
“When does this end? Like, can this end, guys? Like, when does this end?”
