Jon Jones Reveals His Hate For Daniel Cormier Has Diminished

It’s been no secret that UFC interim light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and 205-pound title-holder Daniel Cormier despise one another, and next month at UFC 200 the two men will finally get a chance to settle the score in their main event clash.

During a recent interview with MMAJunkie, Jones discussed how his ‘genuine hatred’ for ‘DC’ is not as strong as it once was:

“It’s just a fight for me at this point, to be honest,” Jones said.“Obviously I don’t want to lose to anybody, and I’ve got a lot on the line. But as far as the genuine hatred and things like that, you know, it’s not as powerful as it was before.

“I’m still motivated, and I’m excited to stick a foot in DC’s ass, but the hatred and all the extra is not really there for me.”

Jones stated that he doesn’t need hatred to overcome ‘DC’ in their colossal showdown at UFC 200, and that he has enough to fight for at the moment:

“I feel like I have enough to fight for: My redemption story, my legacy, getting my belt back – those things motivate me and inspire me,” Jones said.

“Hatred for DC, it really doesn’t give me that much more at this point. I had a fight with Ovince Saint Preux, and we were extremely respectful to other, and I still got there and did my job.

There’s been guys in the past, Lyoto Machida and Glover Teixeira, guys who I have absolutely no problem with, and I still go out there and do my job, so I’ve never been a guy who actually needed the drama.

I just know that it’s entertaining for the fans, and every once in a while it give you that little extra push. But even without that little extra, I’m still extremely hard-working. That’s why I’ve never lost.”

Although Jones has made some questionable decisions in the past, the former 205-pound king is adamant that he has grown since then and that he hopes to solidify his legacy as the fighter who did all the right things:

“If I had to go back and do things over, there’s a lot of things I would do over and try to do better. At the same time, a lot of my struggles, it’s what makes me the strong guy that I am today.

You just gotta learn to take the good with the bad and just look at it for what it is – and just try to do things better than before.

Obviously, my legacy means a lot to me, the championship means a lot to me, and being known as an all-time great means a lot,” Jones said.

“But being known as a fighter who did right and can retire one day and take care of his loved ones, that’s what means the most to me right now. I’m not really tripping over the storyline too much.”

Jones and Cormier will clash in the main event of which takes place at UFC 200 live on pay-per-view (PPV), from the T-Mobile Arena on July 9, 2016.