CALL it what you like, but the rivalry between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones is anything but manufactured.
The pair have been rubbing each other up the wrong way ever since the first time they met, when Jones walked up to Cormier and told him “I bet I could take you down”.
Their build-up to their first bout at UFC 182 saw the pair engage in an unsightly brawl in the MGM Grand lobby, followed by a heated war of words in a split-screen interview.
And a week away from their titanic rematch at UFC 200, the pair engaged in yet another verbal skirmish, though this time things got a little more strange as Cormier suggested Jones’ past lifestyle choices may be coming back to bite him in the Octagon.
“The Jon that showed up against Ovince Saint-Preux is the guy that’s going be in the Octagon on July 9,” Cormier said.
“That is who he is. Nothing’s free, so all the partying and other stuff, you have to pay for that. And now, we’re seeing him where it’s time to pay the costs.
“He’s paying for all the outlandish living and burning that candle at two ends, and now we’re getting to the middle where it starts to die out.
“He may be 28 years old in reality, but he’s lived much longer with the long nights and all the other stuff that he’s done.”
Jones shrugged it off, saying: “Where do you come up with this craziness?
“Where was your candle at when I beat you the first time? Why was your candle out?”
“My candle? Well, I don’t burn the candle at both ends,” Cormier replied.
“I haven’t burnt it at both ends to become a middle-aged man at 28 years old.”
Cormier and Jones will meet in the main event at UFC 200 on July 9, with former undisputed champ Jones vowing to produce a more dominant performance than the one that saw him beat Cormier back at UFC 182.
My main goal is to make the fight look easier than it did the first time,” Jones explained.
“Obviously a finish would be great, but I just want to make the fight look easier than it did the first time and I believe it will be.”
And Jones, who never lost his undisputed title in the Octagon, says the back-and-forth between himself and Cormier will ultimately have no effect on his performance come fight night.
“I don’t think the pre-fight hype and the storyline has much to do with the way I perform,” Jones said.
“I’ve had a lot of guys I fought and I don’t like and I’ve gone out there and finished them. Then I have guys I do like in a fight and I go out there and I finish them.”
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