Daniel Cormier admits he admires Jon Jones, sort of
After calling him a "horrible person," and "the scum of the earth," it is clear that there's plenty UFC light heavyweight title challenger Daniel Cormier dislikes about champion Jon Jones. The rivals finally will meet inside the Octagon this Saturday in the main event of UFC 182, and each man seems eager to put hands on the other to violent effect.
When pressed, however, the two-time wrestling Olympian admits that when it comes to Jon Jones the fighter, he does, in fact, admire plenty about the young champion. "There's a number of things that I like about him, inside of the cage," Cormier said.
"I like his creativeness inside of the Octagon. Confidence in himself. Any time a person wins as many fights as he has, in a row, they deserve a level of respect. At the level that he's won, it's hard not to admire that, to a degree."
Jones' only defeat came via disqualification, to Matt Hamill, in 2009. After becoming the youngest UFC champion in history, in 2011, Jones has defended the belt seven straight times — a UFC light heavyweight record.
It is precisely that level of success that Cormier is himself trying to achieve in the UFC, and he can't help but respect the man who already has gotten to that point. That doesn't mean that the 35-year-old Cormier won't still try with all his might to chop up "Bones" come Saturday night in Las Vegas.
His respecting Jones' abilities also doesn't mean that Cormier believes he'll be able to become friendly with his longtime foe after the fight — though he concedes, "You gain a level of respect by sharing the Octagon with someone."
But as for shaking hands with Jones and putting their past behind themc after the UFC 182 main event, Cormier isn't quite sure yet. "I don't know what's going to happen," he said. "I don't know what's going to happen after the fight. It doesn't really matter to me, one way or the other, obviously."
