Daniel Cormier’s beef with his old UFC rival Jon Jones is alive and well.
The former dual-weight champion fought – and lost – to Jones twice during his Hall of Fame UFC career, which came to an end following a defeat to Stipe Miocic in 2020.
Jones beat Cormier twice – but one of his wins was overturned to a no-contestGetty – Contributor
Since then, Cormier has become one of the UFC’s most notable commentators, and he’ll put aside his issues with Jones to call his heavyweight title fight against Miocic on November 16.
However, he showed his true feeling when former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman began praising ‘Bones’ during their Pound 4 Pound podcast interview.
“As far as the UFC is concerned, Jon is at the level Conor [McGregor] is at,” Usman said.
Cormier could be heard mumbling the words ‘Don’t say nothing crazy’ while Usman was speaking, and he let his worst fear be known as soon as he was finished.
“I thought you was about to say Michael Jordan or some crazy s*** like that,” Cormier interjected. “If you would’ve said that I was leaving.”
Usman’s co-host, Henry Cejudo, burst into laughter at Cormier’s threat – but ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ began comparing Jones to the NBA legend.
“To be honest, Jon is in a sense the Michael Jordan that we’ve seen in MMA,” Usman insisted.
Cormier replied: “Do you just want to be done with the interview?”
Usman continued to defend his position at the risk of his podcast coming to an abrupt end for a second time in recent weeks after Sean O’Malley trolled the show ahead of UFC 306.
“DC, really? You are going to tell me, going through everything he has gone through, he’s not at the level,” he said.
Jordan is one of the biggest sports stars of all timeAFP
Cormier lost his cool when Jones was compared to the NBA legendpound 4 pound podcast – YouTube
“Obviously, we are not talking about the outside. As far as in the sport, Jon is at that level.
Cormier was blown away by the fact Usman was willing to make such a bold claim on camera.
“So, you’re telling me that Jon Jones is the Michael Jordan and LeBron James of MMA,” Cormier said with his head in his hands.
He added before looking to Cejudo for support: “You are going to sit up in here in real life on, one, two three, four, five cameras…”
Usman ended the debate by slightly backtracking while insisting Jones ‘is not far from’ being the Jordan of MMA.
Jones is widely regarded as the best fighter in the history of the sport.
Throughout 2024, UFC CEO Dana White has been telling anyone who will listen that Jones is not only the greatest of all time, but he’s also the best pound-for-pound fighter today.
Many people disagree because he’s fought just once in the past four years.
It appears Cormier is one of them and, despite the fact Jones tried to bury the hatchet when they spoke last year, the retired fighter still holds a grudge.
