Jon Jones ‘Doesn’t Give A Crap’ What People Think About Him

This weekend (Sat. July 29, 2017) one of the most anticipated rematches in mixed martial arts (MMA) history will take place in the main event of UFC 214 on pay-per-view (PPV), as Daniel Cormier defends his light heavyweight title against former divisional kingpin Jon Jones.

Earlier today (Mon. July 24, 2017) a media conference call was held to help promote the bout, and as expected, Cormier and Jones couldn’t help but engage in a bit of back-and-forth banter.

While on the call, I got the opportunity to ask “Bones” how he feels his rivalry with Cormier has escalated throughout the years since their first meeting. Much like “DC,” Jones doesn’t consider his program with the former Olympian a ‘rivalry’ and has no problems with men he has already defeated inside the Octagon:

“I feel like the rivalry – well, I think Daniel’s right it’s not really a rivalry,” Jones explained. “The whole beginning of this thing I tried to be nice to him, as a young black kid, seeing as he’s Cain Velasquez’s coach and is a wrestler that has far greater credentials than me – I thought I was gonna freaking meet this guy and we were gonna be cool. I though we were gonna have a new inside joke every time I saw him.

“And his pride, and his whatever pre-notions that he had about me before – I didn’t know who he was, he knew who I was when we met. And – anyways. Anyways I never had a problem with him, I don’t have problems with people I’ve beaten already. I don’t got a problem with Glover, Chael, or Andre Gusmao or any of those guys. He has a problem with me, and I hate him because he hates me.”

Jones was also disgruntled over the fact that it seems every time Cormier speaks of him it’s to attack his character. In the end, the former 205-pound champion could care less what people think of him. What matters to Jones is the ability to remain a good husband, father, and teammate:

“Anyways, this whole thing we’re going through it has become an attack of my character,” said Jones. “All this has been is an attack on my character. When people ask Daniel what he thinks about me inside of the Octagon, he has sh*t to say about me. And I’m here to fight, I’m not here to protect my, whether you think I’m a good person or not. I’ve given up on that. I don’t give a crap what people think about me at this stage of my career. Not even an ounce.

“I’m happy with the father that I am, the person that I am, the friend that I am, the teammate that I am. Everybody else don’t even matter. Their opinions don’t even matter. And this whole thing – to answer your question, has it evolved or not evolved – this is the first time I’ve been against someone who is literally just fighting to prove that I’m the bad guy. F*ck it! Call me the bad guy. I’m not fighting to be the good guy. I’ve never had anyone just attack – I mean with his old interviews it’s always the same sh*t.”

After his run-in with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) prior to UFC 200 last year, Cormier has began to label “Bones” as a cheat and insinuated that he could have been abusing performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in the past. Jones believes it’s unfathomable to believe that he has outsmarted the likes of USADA and the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) throughout his decade-long career with the promotion:

“Now you’re trying to convince the world I did steroids,” Jones said to Cormier. “That actually gets to me a little bit because I think deep down this mutha f*cker knows I couldn’t do steroids. Come on now. Come on now. Being the youngest champion – you think I’m smart enough to outsmart f*cking USADA and f*cking the Nevada Athletic Commission for ten years? I’m a mastermind steroid user that beat all these guys for ten years? He knows in his heart that I didn’t do steroids. Buy anyways – anyways. I feel like I answered your question.

“”This whole thing has become an attack on Jon Jones‘ character, I feel like when Daniel loses he’ll be able to say ‘Well I’m a f*cking good guy. I’m a good guy and at least people respect me for being a good champion when I had that belt in Jon’s absence. And I think he deserves respect, because he is a good guy. But you don’t have to sh*t on other people to try and make yourself seem that much better Daniel.

“We’ve seen that you’re a good person. We see you’re a great husband, father, wrestling coach, team captain – I admire a lot of things about you. You’re a f*cking great dude. But you don’t gotta f*cking try and convince the world that I did steroids bro, that f*cking – just look yourself in the mirror and say ‘Goddamnit he’s younger than me, he’s athletic, and he beat my ass.’ And he’s gonna do it again. Don’t try and crush somebody else’s image to make you seem more mighty. You’re already a f*cking good dude.”