ABU DHABI – Daniel Cormier is all in on the UFC booking a superfight between Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya.
Cormier, a former two-division UFC champion who retired earlier this year and has settled into a commentating role, is as captivated by the frequently budding feud between his ex-rival Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) and undefeated middleweight champ Adesanya (20-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC).
Following Adesanya’s successful title defense against Paulo Costa last month at UFC 253, the war of words with former light heavyweight champ Jones has kicked into overdrive. The pair have gotten deeply personal, bringing past fight results, steroid accusations, deceased family members, and more into the equation.
The latest chapter in the feud saw Adesanya lure Jones into publicly admitting to a long-rumored story about hiding under the cage at Jackson Wink MMA to avoid a drug test. There’s likely more coming in the future, too, and all of it has Cormier itching to see them step in the octagon.
“Adesanya’s one of those internet kids,” Cormier told reporters, including MMA Junkie, on Tuesday. “Internet kids don’t even need to verify if something’s true. They use it. There’s a rumor, they use it, which is actually quite astounding, because there was a rumor that Jones hid under that cage for years. Adesanya somehow got him to admit to doing it. He actually got him to admit to doing it. So there’s obviously a method to his madness.
“When this started and he kept going after Jones I was like, ‘I can’t imagine how many plates or coffee mugs Jones broke in his house that night because he’s so mad.’ Then he got him to admit that? It was nuts. Jones has had some good comebacks, too. It’s been good.”
One of the main narratives in the Jones-Adesanya feud has been discussion of when the fight will happen. Jones is encouraging “The Last Stylebender” to step into the octagon with him immediately, but Adesanya has been consistent for more than a year in saying it won’t happen until July 2021. He recently told MMA Junkie that, when it does materialize, it will be the “biggest fight in UFC history.”
Cormier said he enjoys that Adesanya is sticking to his guns and overall believes it plays in his favor to wait. The fight-over-fight improvement from Adesanya has been noticeable, and if that trend continues, it’s only going to make the fight tough for Jones. And for that reason, Cormier sees why Jones would want it now.
“If you’re Israel Adesanya you just don’t fight him, because you know how mad he is,” Cormier said. “Could you imagine making this man as mad as you’re making him and still not fighting him? Because it doesn’t seem Izzy’s ready to fight him right now, but I think it would be a fantastic fight. Jones wants to fight him. Jones is a fighter, man. He’ll fight anybody. He’ll fight Adesanya, but Izzy won’t even fight him, which is just like picking at somebody constantly but at a distance. I’m not saying Adesanya’s scared, but Adesanya says, ‘I need my time. You said you’re going to heavyweight 10 years ago; you’re finally doing it now. Why can’t I have time?’ It’s very fascinating watching these two interact with each other. It’s nasty. But these rivalries tend to get nasty. Jones and I was not nice. They tend to get nasty. It’s fun for fans.
“I hope they fight at some point. I think it’s a very interesting matchup. Adesanya’s improving. If I’m Jones I fight him sooner than later if I can get him in there, because the longer – remember, this guy’s only been here for a couple years. Now he looks like he’s going to hold the belt forever.”
Another question about bringing Jones vs. Adesanya to reality would be settling on a weight class. Adesanya has only fought at middleweight in the UFC, while Jones’ career has taken place entirely at light heavyweight. “Bones” recently vacated the 205-pound title, though, and announced he would be making his long-discussed move up to heavyweight.
If Jones commits himself entirely to heavyweight, that could create problems in determining a fight weight. Adesanya has said he would jump up to the UFC’s biggest division if needed, but even Cormier admits he’s not quite sure how that aspect would be sorted out.
“Here’s the dilemma with the fight: What weight are they going to fight at?” Cormier said. “Because Jones is going up. Is he going to get back down to 205 pounds? That’s championship weight. That’s not easy for him. It’s never easy for any of us. Making 205 is awful. It was awful. It’s hard for Jones, too. He’s a big guy. So for Adesanya to come up and just think that dude is going to deplete himself all the way back down to the championship weight, that’s probably not what he would want to do. But if Adesanya can (move up and) get past (Jan) Blachowicz, and now he’s holding that title? Now it might be a bit more intriguing for Jones to go back down there. I don’t really care about the weight. Adesanya’s a big guy. He could go 215 and give Jones a few pounds.”