Daniel Cormier believes that Jon Jones’ legacy is stained and would be open to a boxing match with Jones
By Nicole Bosco
Following the recent positive drug test of UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, former champ Daniel Cormier weighs in on his Podcast Talk and Talker.
After winning the light heavyweight belt back at UFC 214, it was clear Jon Jones had returned and was better than ever. Good feelings were cut short when it was announced that Jones had failed a drug test leading up to the championship bout with Daniel Cormier. The details surrounding the positive drug test are still foggy, and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) will be looking further into the samples. Daniel Cormier addressed these issues and the state of his career on his Podcast with Nick Swinmurn, Talk and Talker.
According to USADA regulations, Jon Jones has been temporarily suspended from action until the B sample, which is a backup of the same sample that tested positive, is tested. Cormier revealed that he felt physically sick to his stomach when first learning that Jones had tested positive. He said in a statement immediately following the announcement, that he would not jump to conclusion until the B sample was finalized.
“I don’t see how, in this situation, it could be good,” Cormier said, ” Imagine if the B sample comes back and it’s negative, It’s still such a stain, you know, it’s just so closely tied to him.”
This is the third time in Jones’ career that he had tested positive for a banned substance. In 2015 he tested positive for cocaine, and underwent treatment, July 2016 Jones was suspended for testing positive again for a banned substance, and now at UFC 214.
“Three out of his last four fights he tested positive for something,” Cormier explains. “That’s a problem. Even if they find that he was negligent again as he was last year, I think they will say something like ‘Negligence doesn’t allow for you to be not punished in the most severe way because you’ve done it time and time again.”
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The trilogy fight between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones was something of interest to both fighters and fans alike, this is something that could be a possibility in the future even with a possible suspension for Jones. During his last suspension, Jones participated in grappling tournaments.
“It’s very hard, how do you let go of all the emotion that is tied to him and my rivalry? I don’t think I could (grapple) because competitively we would want to fight. It would be hard to just wrestle or hard to just grapple,” Cormier said. “Boxing, we would probably do that, of course, I would box him, that’s just another way of fighting.”