Jon Jones explains why he doesn't have 'unfinished business' with Daniel Cormier
Daniel Cormier and Anthony "Rumble" Johnson will compete for the light heavyweight title in the main event at UFC 210 on Saturday night, but a huge shadow will hang over the event with former champion Jon Jones sitting just a few feet away from the Octagon.
Jones is currently under suspension after testing positive for a banned substance last year, but he's still arguably viewed as the best light heavyweight in the world if not the top pound-for-pound fighter in the entire sport.
Jones already holds a win over Cormier but if the former two-time Olympian can get past Johnson in Buffalo, he'll likely get the rematch he's wanted after since suffering the only loss of his professional fighting career.
As much as Cormier wants to get another shot at Jones, the same can't be said for the former eight-time defending champion who never lost his belt but instead had it stripped from him after being arrested in 2015.
"I really don't feel like I have unfinished business with Cormier. I think I have unfinished business with Anthony Johnson," Jones explained when speaking to the media in Buffalo on Friday. "We've had quite a few fights that fell through, but Daniel Cormier, I beat him fair and square. I'm the only guy to ever beat him.
"So if anyone has unfinished business, I feel he has unfinished business with me."
From Jones' perspective, he doesn't view Cormier has his equal or even as his greatest rival. In fact, Jones sees Cormier as just one of the 22 victories on his record, which is already one of the most impressive resumes in mixed martial arts history.
"Daniel's no greater than any other person that I've defeated," Jones said. "He just so happened to be undefeated outside of myself. To me, the guy who beat him, I look at him like he's Stephan Bonnar or whoever else I've beaten in the past."
While Jones doesn't seem to care one way or another whether he ever faces Cormier again, it does appear that he would like the chance to face Johnson after they were originally scheduled to face off before he was arrested and stripped of his title two years ago.
As much as Jones would like the opportunity to face Johnson, it doesn't sound like the 29-year old New York native would give him much of a chance to hand him the first legitimate loss of his career.
"I just feel like he's a very one-dimensional fighter," Jones said about Johnson. "Obviously, he has that wrestling base and once a wrestler, always a wrestler but I think he's pretty much fallen in love with his striking and his power. In order to beat a guy like me, you really have to have the whole game down. Your jiu-jitsu, your takedown defense, your takedowns, the whole sha-bang. I just don't feel like he's that fighter.
"He's extremely talented with God given knockout power. He has a great kickboxing coach but this sport is mixed martial arts. I feel like I'm truly the greatest mixed martial artist who's ever walked this planet."
Given all those factors, Jones may not like Cormier very much but he still believes he'll walk out of UFC 210 with the light heavyweight title around his waist, which will then all but certainly set up a rematch between them later this year.
"I think [Anthony Johnson] has a very strong chance to do it. A puncher's chance. But if I were to bet, I'd put my money on Daniel Cormier," Jones explained. "Just because of the last performance [against Johnson] and it boils back down to what I was just saying, you've got to have the total package to beat people at a certain level of this sport and DC is closer to that level of having that perfect, complete game.
"I think Anthony has a great chance but if I had to bet, I would definitely go with Daniel Cormier."
