Cormier: Jones has no control over me, needs rematch more than I do
The way Daniel Cormier sees it, Jon Jones has a lot more to prove than he does.
Cormier's only career loss came at Jones' hands in January 2015, and while he's dead set on avenging the defeat as soon as his bitter rival returns from his one-year USADA-sanctioned ban in July, the reigning UFC light heavyweight champ believes the baggage Jones needs to shed far outweighs his.
Despite an indomitable run at 205 pounds, Jones' legacy has been tarnished by several incidents outside the Octagon - namely the doping violation that scrapped his rematch with Cormier mere days before UFC 200 - which, as far as Cormier is concerned, puts the onus on "Bones" to make their second dance a reality, if only to put his troubled past behind him.
"I’ve got to the point in my life where I’m like, this guy has no control over me," Cormier said Monday on "The MMA Hour," per MMA Fighting's Chuck Mindenhall. "This guy has no control over me anymore. Like, if he can’t never go back and fight me, that’s on him. I’ve got three UFC gold titles. I’ve got everything else. I’ve got my family, I’ve got my money, I’ve got everything - I’ve got my job for the future. I don’t need that guy.
"That guy needs to fight. That guy needs to come back and fight me. Because this thing doesn’t define who I am as a human being. I think Jon Jones, he needs to be Jon Jones the fighter, because there is nothing else. If you take away Jon Jones the fighter, what is there? Jon Jones the college dropout? Jon Jones the guy that actually ran over some chick in his vehicle? Who is he? He needs this to define him. You strip away everything else … there’s layers to who I am. So he needs this more than me. I don’t need him anymore."
Jones, however, was quick to say otherwise recently when addressing the media for the first time since his suspension. Having taken a lopsided decision over Cormier at UFC 182, the former champ claimed the demand for a rematch was a one-way affair, deeming his rival no greater a scalp than any of the other 14 he's claimed in the Octagon.
The pair are presumed to meet again in Jones' eventual return, although "Bones" is currently debating whether he should take a "warmup" fight first.