Jon Jones thankful to former rival Daniel Cormier: “You drove me to be a better competitor. Forever grateful.”
Jon Jones is showing sportsmanship and class to his former rival Daniel Cormier in the leadup to his UFC 285 heavyweight title bout.
Cormier and ‘Bones’ Jones were bitter rivals and battled for the UFC light heavyweight throne on two occasions. Fierce trash talk magnified their interactions. After the bouts had concluded, the two refused to put their differences behind them and remained adversaries.
In the leadup to the UFC 285 heavyweight world title tilt between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane, Jones is changing his tone when it comes to the former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier.
Jon Jones is grateful to Daniel Cormier
It began on Twitter with the all-time great Jones inviting Daniel Cormier to commentate his UFC 285 bout. Jones said:
“DC you are more than welcome to commentate at my fight, I think you are really good at what you do. I trust that you would be non-biased. All the best brother.“
Cormier responded on his podcast and said:
“You guys know how I feel about Jones and how we have felt about each other in the past. But it leads me to this question: How do I take this? This particular tweet, which at times feels like a compliment, but also could be interpreted as a bit of a dig — considering at times, people call me biased in my commentary and all this other stuff. First, just for the record, I don’t really need permission to call someone’s fight.” [Transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting]
Jon Jones then doubled down showing grace on Twitter. He said:
“In all seriousness DC, I’m cool with you bro. I recognize the man you are, I wasn’t lying when I said those things in my post fight interview. Outside of us being fierce competitors I dig the way you represent yourself, the wrestling community, our community, and our sport … Sit down interview, post fight interview, coaches meeting. We’re cool man for real. I appreciate your competitive nature, you drove me to be a better competitor. Forever grateful.”
