DC: UFC wants me to give up light heavy belt so Jones can fight Gus for it
Daniel Cormier: “Everybody knows how I feel about Jon Jones. It’s been tense, to say the least, with my interaction with the company if indeed they offer a title fight to him. I have to maintain a sense of professionalism.”
UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier planned to defend the 205 title late in 2018, the heavyweight title vs. Brock Lesnar early in 2019, and then retire. However, a hand injury will apparently prevent him from fighting this year, so the UFC wants him to relinquish the 205 belt so they can make Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 on December 29. Jones is returning from a USADA suspension, the length of which was radically reduced as he agreed to provide USADA with substantial assistance” – supplying USADA or law enforcement with information of an anti-doping policy violation by another person.
During an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Cormier described the negotiation as “tense.”
Everybody knows how I feel about Jon Jones, said Cormier, as transcribed by Simon Samano for MMAjunkie. It’s been tense, to say the least, with my interaction with the company if indeed they offer a title fight to him. I have to maintain a sense of professionalism.
The plan as it stands is for Cormier to defend vs. Brock Lesnar, ideally early in January. Then DC would fight once more in March, presumably vs. the winner of Gus vs. Jones, and then retire.
I said I would be willing to fight, but it just can’t happen right now,” he explained.
I can’t turn this off. It’s my desire to fight and compete against the best of the world. No matter how much I disrespect [Jon Jones], he’s a phenomenal talent. But at the end of the day, he’s a cheater. … I want to compete against him again.”