Jon Jones fires back at Daniel Cormier: ‘You lost your last fight and then quit the sport’

Esther Lin, MMA FIghting

Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier appear to be the rivalry that never ends even with one of them retired.

Amid the recent discussion about the “greatest of all time” in MMA, Jones has been embroiled in a debate about his standing next to reigning UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Jones has argued his 14 wins in UFC title fights separates him from the competition while Nurmagomedov’s level of dominance as he amassed an astonishing 29-0 record has been virtually unmatched as well.

Cormier recently offered his take on the debate while pointing out his biggest issue with Jones being considered the GOAT regardless of how much he’s accomplished during his career.

“One of the most talented guys you’ll ever meet but again for me bad [drug] tests eliminate you from the conversation,” Cormier told MMA Fighting.

On Monday, Jones responded to Cormier’s take while defending himself against accusations of cheating in his past.

“With USADA you are guilty until proven innocent unless you are the GOAT,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “When you’ve been winning this damn long, you remain guilty, it helps people sleep at night.

“People will remember I was accused of steroids, they will also remember that I was proven innocent and able to continue with my career.”

Jones has faced plenty of scrutiny over failed drug tests during his career, including an incident at UFC 200 that prevented him from fighting Cormier.

After testing positive for two banned substances — clomiphene and letrozole — Jones was pulled from the event. He then had his win against Cormier in their rematch overturned to a no-contest after testing positive for Turinabol, which is an anabolic steroids.

Since that time, Jones has continued to show trace elements of Turinabol in his system but the United States Anti-Doping Agency has cleared him of any further wrong doing due to what they believe is a “pulsing” effect where the drug remains in his body but provides no performance enhancing abilities.

Still, Jones has at least two suspensions on his resume based on failed drug tests, which is what Cormier pointed towards when saying he eliminated his former rival from consideration for GOAT in MMA.

Regardless, Jones took a final parting shot at Cormier, who retired in August after suffering a unanimous decision loss to UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic.

“DC you lost your last fight and then quit the sport,” Jones said. “Talk about being eliminated from the conversation.”