Jon Jones isn’t buying Daniel Cormier’s “nice guy” act.
The two former rivals recently reunited as opposing coaches on ALF Global’s ALF Reality TV series. Ahead of filming, Jones had expressed hope that the show might give them an opportunity to let bygones be bygones and possibly begin a friendship. Those hopes now appear dead in the water after several difficult interactions during the first week of filming.
“This season against Daniel Cormier, oh man, what a stuffy, just, d***head Cormier really is,” Jones told Red Corner MMA. “I think if you really get to know Daniel Cormier, he's really nuts. He's an a**hole. He is an a**hole. I mean, he didn't really connect with any of the fighters here. He's just an a**hole. I tried to make peace with him many times, and he made it very clear that he wants to be enemies for the rest of his life because of how lucrative it is.”
Jones defeated Cormier twice in UFC light heavyweight title fights in 2015 and 2017, although the second victory was later overturned to a no contest after Jones failed a drug test. Their rivalry frequently spilled over during those years, and neither man has missed an opportunity to take shots at the other in the time since.
“There were moments where we got to laugh, you know, but for the most part, he's a d***head,” Jones insisted. “You look at the way that he treats his staff members. He brought like 10’ yes men’ out with him and literally (he was like), ‘go get me my water. Where's my this? Why is that this?’ He just bosses guys around.
“In the times we weren't filming, he wasn't very sociable with the people on set. He's just a d***head. I think people that really work with him know that.”
Cormier has this week floated the idea of wrestling match between him and Jones, insisting he would dominate his former rival should they meet under the Real American Freestyle wrestling banner. Jones disagrees.
“If I wrestled against Daniel Cormier, it'd be really interesting to see what happened,” Jones said. “But the one thing I do know is that I made him cry in front of the world. I took him off of the list of being considered one of the greatest fighters of all time. He'll be even lower in the rankings of the greatest heavyweight of all time, because my prospect, Gable Steveson, is going to be three times the champion Daniel Cormier ever was. And so he'll just always be in my shadow one way or another.”
