Cormier's more than happy to "embarrass" his old rival in either a boxing or wrestling match, though. "I'd box his face up," he told Uncrowned.
Rivalries in MMA don't quite deliver the same as they once did. Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones are living proof, as one of the sport's most bitter all-time feuds was recently reignited in Thailand.
What could have easily been dismissed as more "AI slop" running rampant across the internet was, in fact, very real, as the pair of UFC Hall of Famers and former two-division champions agreed to coach against each other on the latest season of "ALF Global Reality" — a Russian MMA program akin to "The Ultimate Fighter." It had been nine years since Cormier and Jones were last together in a competitive landscape, but Jones has kept the hostilities high in 2026, insulting Cormier as an "a**hole and a d***head" in a recent interview, claiming Cormier "made it very clear that he wants to be enemies for the rest of his life."
Cormier responded to Jones on Wednesday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show."
"Honestly, after spending all the time with Jon in Thailand, he's different today than he was back then," Cormier told Uncrowned. "He's not the same person that he was back when him and I were going through all of our stuff.
"We were around each other every single day, and we were cordial. We had times where Jon and I actually laughed at stuff — we laughed together at stuff, but if I didn't have to be around him, I'm not going to voluntarily be around him. Why would I want that?
"I don’t harbor the emotions from the past that I did with him. I really don’t. We spoke negatively about each other’s families. We had a nasty, nasty thing. He cheated constantly. I don’t have to let him off the hook and be his friend. That would be me just going, 'Everything you did is good.' It's not. It just wasn't good. So yeah, I can be cordial, I can work alongside you, I can do my thing, but I don't have to be your friend. I'm a man. It is what it is.”
Many of MMA's most bitter rivals have settled their beefs in life after fighting. At times, it seemed as if the likes of Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber or Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen would never possibly be friendly with one another, though they eventually became exactly that. That's not the case for all rivals, though, and Cormier believes it doesn't have to be, given how intense things were between him and Jones.
"Happy endings and fairytales are for kids who need these things to go to bed at night — little girls who believe in princes and princesses," Cormier said. "You don't need to be friends with everybody. You don't have to be friends with everybody that you had a problem with. It's fine. Just do your thing, I'll do mine, and we'll be OK.
"Y'all want to pay us to do this show? A boatload of money? I can do a show with him, and I want to beat him. But we don't need to be friends. ... Life ain't fair, man. If fair is me being your friend, then sorry, bro, you got a life ahead of you that just will not be fair. But am I going to run at Jon Jones and fight him every time I see him? No. If he says hi to me, I'll say hi to him. But why do we need to be friends?"
Jones holds the advantage over Cormier in their competitive rivalry, having won their first fight in 2015. Their subsequent rematch two years later initially ended in a second-round knockout for Jones, however Jones later tested positive for banned substances, turning the result into a no-contest.
The rivals went their separate ways after that rematch, with Cormier continuing to defend the UFC light heavyweight title in Jones' absence before moving up to heavyweight and capturing a second belt. By the time Jones eventually followed suit in 2023, Cormier had retired after back-to-back losses to Stipe Miocic in 2020.
Does that mean a third competition of sorts is impossible between Cormier and Jones?
No, at least not from Cormier's side. If there's a trilogy bout left to be had, Cormier would prefer be on the wrestling mats, where he made his name to begin with, or even in the boxing ring.
"To make me and him do anything costs so much money," Cormier said. "There's very few people that can actually make it happen, so I don't know if it happens.
"The whole wrestling thing, that's cool to make pipe dreams, but I don't know that he's willing to allow me to embarrass him in a wrestling match. I don't want to wrestle, [but] I would wrestle Jon Jones. ... If Jon Jones wants to wrestle, then yeah, I'll go wrestle Jon Jones. ... I'm not fighting, man. No. Look at my face, dude — look at all this gray. I'm not fighting. I would box him, but I'm not fighting. Why not? I'd box his face up."
Despite Cormier's willingness to come out of retirement for one more grudge match, a lot of it feels like more banter with his greatest rival. Outside of a wrestling match, the 46-year-old legend is enjoying life as a coach and UFC commentator.
"I'd prefer to not do any of that stuff, honestly. I'm old, man," Cormier said. "I'm a commentator, I'm chilling. Wrestling match would be preferable. [I beat him] 10-0, easy. Bro, I am an Olympian. We're going to get in a wrestling stance and wrestle with shoes on? 10-0 all day."
Category: General Sports
