Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has gingerly returned to social media, after a break of over half a year following his involvement in a felony hit and run accident. The majority of his messages have centered on his training – ‘Bones’ is currently lifting heavy, and hitting personal bests in various lifts.
Daniel Cormier, who beat Anthony Johnson to take the title after Jones’ suspension, appeared recently on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, and said he was not impressed. Cormier also said he does not think that his holding the belt is the root of Jones focus on strength gains.
“It’s part of it, obviously”It’s part of it, obviously,” Cormier said. “But no. I would not give myself that much credit. This guy doesn’t wake up in the morning going, ‘Wow, I need to lift 500 pounds because of Daniel.’ He’s doing that for himself.”
“Maybe he feels that by getting stronger, it’s going to make him a better fighter. The reality is, when I saw him getting so bulky, as a competitor, I thought, ‘Wow, this isn’t bad for me.’ This isn’t bad for me as a competitor, because the Jon Jones that was kind of skinny and maybe wasn’t the bulkiest guy, it all worked, Helwani. It all worked. His body, the way his body was, it worked. It allowed him for range; it allowed him for optimal speed. It allowed him for quickness and agility.
“Looking at all the extra bulk, to me I was like, ‘Well, maybe this will slow him down. Maybe he won’t be the fastest guy. Maybe this guy is messing with what was given to him.’ In reality, what has been given to him is perfect.”
“Jon said before he had some issues with alcohol and drugs. You have to replace that stuff with something and it seems as though his addiction is now weightlifting. And it’s not bad. You replace it with something else. Something that can help you.”
“Now he’s gotten bigger. For me as a competitor, I thought, ‘Wow. You start messing with the recipe – the recipe that’s actually really, really good – maybe this opens up the door for some of his competitors.’”
And in turn Jon Jones was not impressed with Cormier’s remarks.
Jon Bones Jones @JonnyBones
•We are going to see how slow I am when I foot sweep you on your ass again
•If you honestly think transforming 10lbs of fat into muscle will slow me down you’re sadly mistaken. I appreciate your concerns DC
•Trust that I’m surrounded by professionals, we are not naïve
•DC tries to get me double guessing my physical strength but fails to mention how he’s going to deal with my mental
Josh Wolske @JoshWolske
@JonnyBones you think he’ll bring out those #BreakBones t-shirts again? #Unbroken
Jon Bones Jones @JonnyBones
•I personally enjoyed the whole embrace the grind theme. I use it to prepare for him
So it has begun. Expect this only to accelerate leading up to a fight, hopefully in April at Madison Square Garden.
