Daniel Cormier: Jon Jones Did This To Himself; The Belt Is No Longer His
With the shock of the UFC’s move to strip light heavyweight champion Jon Jones of the belt and book Daniel Cormier in his place vs. “Rumble” Johnson at UFC 187 sinking in, “DC” was quick to respond to the messy situation on last evening’s late episode of UFC Tonight:
A normal show co-host who was originally preparing to face Ryan Bader in the main event of June 6’s UFC Fight Night 68 from his home state of Louisiana, Cormier said that he knew the opportunity to get his second straight title shot was arising as the bizarre story of Jones’ arrest for a hit-and-run accident unfolded:
“People were kind of seeing that it was the fight that it was the fight that needed to happen if there was an opportunity. Dana and Lorenzo called me and thy told me before it went public, and I’ve been kind of trying to compose myself and contain myself. Uh, you know, you start preparing; I’ve been preparing for my fight with Bader anyways, so I kind of just shifted my focus hoping that an opportunity would present itself.”
Despite their sordid history of bad blood dating back to their infamous UFC 178 media day brawl, Cormier wouldn’t kick the downtrodden Jones, instead focusing on how it’s tough to see him waste his talent:
“You don’t kick a guy when he’s down, and it was obviously disappointing. More than anything, I think the stuff that Jon gets into is disappointing. This is a guy who has the world at his fingertips but he can’t seem to get out of his own way. So, very unfortunate was my initial reaction.”
However, Cormier knew that as Jones’ unfortunate legal troubles got worse, he began to think positive about his chances at a title shot:
“But once it became so serious, the Twitter and stuff started blowin’ up, and people calling for fights, and I guess I kind of became hopeful.”
“DC” also had some advice for “Bones,” urging him to get his affairs on order so he can eventually return and face him for his title:
“Just get it together, you know, get it together, man. There are a lot of people that look up to you, and a lot of people that want to see him succeed. There’s a lot of people that want to see him succeed. Also, you know, I’ll be waiting on the other side with my championship and he can actually challenge me for it.”
Of course the inevitable question of the “new” light heavyweight championship being a legitimate one arose, and Cormier acknowledged that while Jones beat him and never lost, he ultimately brought all of this on himself, opening up the door for him to step up and take advantage of the opportunity:
“I’m a realist; Jon was the champion and he beat himself. I didn‘t get the job done on January 3rd. Jon Jones beat me. But opportunity presents itself and you have to step up. It is my job to get in there and fight in there on May 23; it’s my job to go in there and beat Anthony Johnson. This is a tough hill to climb; this is not easy.
“But, Jon did this to himself, so the belt is not his anymore, so yeah, it is the real championship. There is no interim tag, this is for the UFC light heavyweight championship.”
