For Daniel Cormier, feud with Jon Jones rages on
Often times, even the most bitter of rivals hug it out after a hard battle in the ring or cage. That isn't the case between UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and his last challenger, Daniel Cormier.
After losing a decision to Jones earlier this year, the former Olympic wrestler has no interest in squashing the beef with Jones. In fact, Cormier doesn't even want to be in the same space as the champ - that is until they fight again.
"I don't really have any desire to talk to him or try and end things or anything. I don't really want to be around him because I don't know what's going to happen, honestly," he recently told BJ Penn.com.
"I can't say that I would not lose my [expletive] if we were around each other."
Cormier may have learned a great deal about himself after going five rounds with his rival, but that doesn't mean he gained a newfound appreciation for "Bones." "Nothing changed," he continued.
"Nothing will change and we will fight again, and we'll make sure the result's different."
The ultra-competitive Cormier next fights Ryan Bader in his home of Louisana in June. From now on, he says he won't put so much pressure on himself to win, as he did when he fought Jones.
That said, Cormier is confident that he will beat Bader, and then plans on taking Jones on again. After all, losing is no fun, ever.
"There's no positive in losing, that's fake. When people tell you that, that's a lie, they flat-out lie to you, there's no positive in losing," the American Kickboxing Academy team captain went on.
"There's learning in losing. I feel like I've learned from that loss. I put a lot on myself to try to win that fight. When you feel like you can't lose to someone there comes a lot of pressure. And I put a lot of pressure on myself. I'm not going to do that again. I'm not going to put the pressure that I did last time, it's another fight. It doesn't matter who it's against, it doesn't matter what it's for, it's just another fight."
Just how long does Cormier plan on waiting to earn another crack at Jones? "Not very long," he said.
"Because, I plan on mowing through Bader pretty good, and I'm going to get back on that microphone and I'm going to scream at [Jones] again and tell him, 'fight me again.' I said in that deal, this is a wrestling tournament - I'm that kid that's always in the bracket, and I mean that.
"He won the first match, this is only the first week. We have to wrestle again. This is the Big 12's, there's still the NCAA championships, you know. This isn't the end. We're going to constantly be competing against each other. It's only because him and I are too good to stay separated. There aren't enough guys in that division to keep us from each other and we'll continue to compete against each other."
