Daniel Cormier: Jon Jones would get beat up at heavyweight by Cain Velasquez
It's hard for Daniel Cormier to go through an entire interview without UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones name coming up at least once.
Cormier and Jones have been attached to one another for at least the past year after the former two-time Olympian made it well known that if he dropped down to light heavyweight, he would be the new UFC champion while stopping the Team Greg Jackson fighter's current run.
Of course Jones has never taken kindly to Cormier's words, and the two fighters appear headed for an eventual showdown, although plenty could happen to derail that.
First off, Cormier has to fight Rashad Evans at UFC 170 while Jones still has to get past Glover Teixeira at UFC 172. There's also Alexander Gustafsson, who is looming in the shadows and currently in line for the next title shot if he beats Jimi Manuwa in England in early March.
Lastly, Jones has teased the possibility of going up to heavyweight to challenge himself at some point and he believes a super fight with champion Cain Velasquez could be a huge fight for his career and for the UFC.
Cormier finally settled the question about Jones on Wednesday saying that the only reason he was targeted in the first place was because he's champion. The name didn't matter to Cormier as much as the man holding the gold around his waist, so he wants to make it clear – he doesn’t care one bit about Jones, he just wants the belt.
Cormier doesn't believe Jones will find much success at heavyweight, however, because his good friend and teammate Cain Velasquez reigns over that division with an iron clad grip.
"I always say this and this whole Jon Jones thing has been blown out of proportion. I care about being the champion, so if Jon decides to go to heavyweight, he can go up there and get beat up by Cain (Velasquez). That's the only thing that's going to happen," Cormier said on Wednesday.
"Cause there won't ever be a two belt thing because I don't think any of these guys are going to beat Velasquez. If he was going to leave the division, I wish he would have did it already so the only reason I'd have to fight Rashad would be for the title. It didn't work out that way so if he left, I'd fight whoever had the belt."
Cormier is still hopeful that with the right kind of win over Evans at UFC 170 that he could jump in front of Gustafsson and earn the next shot at the belt.
"It's one of those situations you hope it leads to that. If I can beat Rashad that would be 14-0 with three former champions on my resume, but the UFC seems to want to do Gustafsson," Cormier said. "The thing is if I can get past Rashad, I'll beat (Jon) Jones and how much better would it be to promote a fight where he's trying to get his belt back rather than promoting a guy who just fought him close."
It sounds like Cormier is happy to face and defeat Jones and even offer him an immediate rematch for the belt. First things first, Cormier has to get past Evans in his debut at 205 pounds and then he'll get the chance to call out Jones or whoever has the belt at that point.
