Daniel Cormier thinks that Jon Jones’ recent indication that he may be contemplating retirement could be due to how quickly he defeated Ciryl Gane in his heavyweight debut.
“DC” is extremely familiar with Jones after previously sharing the cage with him on two occasions in light heavyweight title fights, but he’s also in the unique position of having held titles at both light heavyweight and heavyweight. Cormier retired after suffering back-to-back losses to Stipe Miocic, who is expected to challenge Jones for the heavyweight title later this year.
“Bones” recently teased that he might walk away from the sport after fighting Miocic, and Cormier shared an interesting take on the situation during an episode of his show DC & RC with co-host Ryan Clark.
“When you’re a guy that wants to be the best in the world and only lives to be the best in the world, when you know you’re not the best in the world anymore you walk away from the game,” Cormier said. “But for Jones, he’s still the best in the world. And as you said, he was excited about the idea of going to fight at heavyweight. It was a challenge and something that scared him. But do you think that maybe it was easier than he may have thought? He got through Ciryl Gane so easy…It’s like well if this is what it is, where’s that challenge? Where’s that thing that scares me?”
Daniel Cormier Hopeful That Jon Jones Sticks Around After Stipe Miocic Fight
Jones’ made his long-awaited heavyweight debut when he took on former Interim Heavyweight Champion Gane at UFC 285, and it took the 35-year-old just over two minutes to secure a submission and win the heavyweight title.
There are a number of rising contenders at heavyweight that appear close to title contention, but Jones seems to be completely focused on taking on the fighter that is arguably the greatest heavyweight in the history of the sport. “Bones” is already considered by many to be the GOAT of MMA regardless of weight class, and Cormier believes he’ll only stick around if he still feels like he has something left to prove.
“That’s what Jones spoke about before the [Gane] fight. Being scared again, something that was dangerous. And maybe he doesn’t feel that. Maybe he doesn’t feel like that is going to be his every day at heavyweight. But I feel like I would like to see him continue to fight, I would like to see him fight guys like Sergei Pavlovich. I would like to see him in there with Stipe Miocic. And I do believe that there are some challenges for Jon Jones.”
The matchup between Jones and Miocic was originally being targeted for UFC 290 but now appears more likely for a later date, and the UFC’s heavyweight champion did recently mention one name that could convince him to stick around beyond that planned title defense.