Jon Jones Has No Interest In Grappling Match With Daniel Cormier
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon ‘Bones’ Jones won’t be able to see the inside of an Octagon until July of 2017 due to his suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), but that doesn’t mean the former 205-pound king can’t get his hands dirty on the grappling mat.
Jones is currently slated to take on the recently retired Dan Henderson at Submission Underground 2, an event promoted by former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen.
During a recent media call to promote the event, courtesy of FOX Sports, Jones was asked if he would ever consider doing a grappling match with longtime rival Daniel Cormier, to which ‘Bones’ stated he would rather ‘kick his ass’ using all of his combat sports arsenal as opposed to being limited to what he could do in a grappling event:
“That would be a hell of a match but no I wouldn’t want to play with Cormier at all,” Jones told FOX Sports on a conference call on Thursday. “Me and Cormier’s storyline is so big and important to me. I wouldn’t want to give him any false sense of security or anything.
“I just want to kick his ass with my hands and feet and elbows and knees.”
Instead Jones will take on Henderson at the Underground event, an opponent he was originally slated to collide with at UFC 151 back in 2012. The bout would never come to fruition, however, as the event was called off after Jones refused to take on a late-notice replacement after Henderson was forced out with an injury.
Interestingly enough the opponent offered to Jones to replace Henderson was Sonnen, the Submission Underground show’s promoter, but Jones stated that has no meaning as to why he accepted the invitation to take on Henderson:
“It didn’t really play that much of a part, but it’s all a part of the storyline now,” Jones said. “Like I said before, I never got to compete against Dan and Dan, he’s a guy who’s greatly respected.
“I often get people that come up to me with the UFC 151 poster with me and Dan on it and ask me to sign it. So I know it will mean a lot to a lot of fans to be able to see this. I’m excited.”
The pressure is certainly on for Jones heading into the grappling contest, as he is expected to win due to the sheer size and power advantage he possesses over the 46-year-old Henderson, but he also feels an obligation to put on an exciting contest to live up to the expectations of the fans who will be tuning in:
“It’s important for me. I feel like a lot of my fans hold high expectations of me when it comes to inside the Octagon — not so much outside of the Octagon — but I feel like most of my performances are pretty dominant so I don’t feel like I have the luxury to not perform in an extremely impressive fashion,” Jones said. “So I put pressure on myself and feel pressure from my fans to not only win, but to look great doing it.
“That’s what I’m planning to go out there and really dominate the way I’ve done in mixed martial arts.”
The match-up with Henderson seems to be only the beginning of Jones’ grappling career, as he would like to take on a heavyweight next to test himself against an opponent larger than himself. Something he typically doesn’t have to deal with when competing inside the Octagon:
“I’d like to maybe challenge a heavyweight after this to see how I step up against a guy that’s much bigger than I am,” Jones said. “But no one in particular though. I think it would be a big seller for sure.”
Who do you have winning between Jones and Henderson? And is a grappling match between Jones and ‘DC’ something that interests you?
