Cormier Calls Jones “Great,” Thinks He Can Beat Him

Even though Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones have what could be considered a “contentious relationship,” the UFC heavyweight champion has given credit to the new light heavyweight champion for his win at UFC 232.

Speaking with MMA Fighting’s Luke Thomas, Cormier complemented Jones’ performance against Alexander Gustafsson on December 29th, amd considers him a ‘phenomenal mixed martial artist.’

“Anytime you can go through a guy like Alexander Gustafsson in the fashion that he did is very impressive,” Cormier said of Jones. “I have never shied away from the fact that the guy’s a phenomenal mixed martial artist, and I thought he fought well. I thought he fought well, he fought exactly as he intended to and was able to completely shut down Alex.”

While Cormier can defer that Jones is great, he feels that Jones could have been a champion without the use of performance enhancing drugs.

“If you’re asking me if I feel Jon Jones would’ve worn a UFC title without any of these things (PEDs), I do, 100 percent, believe he would’ve won a UFC title,” Cormier said. “I think that he’s a very talented guy. He comes from the sport of wrestling, so he has that baseline for dictating where fights take place. With that being said, those things are done for a reason, right? You don’t have all these issues with the testing unless you have either doubts or something in your preparation over the course of your athletic career didn’t truly add up. That’s the only way you would get these types of things tied to your career.

“But do I feel the guy would’ve been successful without it? Yes, I do. I think he definitely would’ve been a UFC champion, and even without all this stuff that’s tied to the fights, I think he could’ve won those fights to me anyways. I think he’s a very talented guy. And I still believe I could beat the guy, even though I’ve lost a couple times, but again, I think that’s what makes me different, is that regardless of — every time I walked on that mat against Cael Sanderson, losing every time, I still felt that every time I went out there: ‘This is the one I’m going to win.’ I never didn’t give myself a chance, and that’s how I feel with Jones.”

Quotes Via: MMA Fighting