Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier share one of the most heated rivalries in MMA history. Over the course of their two bouts, the two decorated champions traded near endless trash talk, and even brawled at a press conference.
According to Jones, who is gearing up for a UFC 247 title defense opposite Dominick Reyes, that beef with Cormier has now come to an end.
Jones made this surprising comment in a recent episode of UFC Embedded.
The topic of Cormier came up when a fan asked Jones to write “f**k DC” on a piece of memorabilia, which the light heavyweight champion had apprently done previously.
That’s when Jones casually mentioned “my beef with DC is all over.”
Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier have fought twice previously. On the first occasion, Jones won by unanimous decision.
In their second meeting, Jones stopped the fight with a head-kick and followup punches, but his victory was later overturned when he failed a drug test.
Ever since that controversial second fight, there’s been talk of a third fight between the two legends, but with Cormier now at heavyweight, and eyeing retirement after his planned trilogy fight with Stipe Miocic, the time for another fight with Jones seems to have passed.
Besides, Jones is plenty busy with other challenges, like the imminent threat posed by Reyes.
Jones will enter this fight with recent wins over Thiago Santos, Anthony Smith and Alexander Gustafsson in the rear-view. The reigning light heavyweight champ has lost just once as a pro, and that loss came via controversial disqualification. Over the course of his illustrious career, he’s bested foes like Ryan Bader, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira, Cormier, and the men mentioned above.
Dominick Reyes, on the other hand, has never been beaten as a pro mixed martial artist. Highlights of his recent resume include wins over Ovince Saint Preux, Volkan Oezdemir, and Chris Weidman.
Do you believe the beef between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier is really over?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 2/6/2020.