Daniel Cormier isn’t sure if anyone beats Jon Jones at light heavyweight.
In many people’s eyes, current UFC light heavyweight champion Jones (25-1 MMA, 19-1 UFC) has never lost in his career. The lone defeat on his record is a disqualification loss to Matt Hamill in a fight “Bones” was dominating.
Speaking to BT Sport, former UFC dual-champ Cormier, who technically lost to Jones twice (though one result was later overturned to a no contest), said while he still sees a couple more challengers for Jones at 205 pounds, he just doesn’t think any of them have what it takes to beat him.
“I don’t know who beats Jon Jones,” Cormier admitted. “I really don’t, and obviously you guys know my feelings towards him, but he’s good, man. I think it’s going to take a heavyweight. It’ll be one of those guys – one of those big, big guys that will shut the lights out. I just don’t know if those guys can beat Jones over 25 minutes.”
When saying “those guys,” Cormier also includes UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who has been trading barbs with Jones, drawing interest from the general public and the media on a potential fight between the pair further down the line.
“He’s a good fighter,” Cormier said of Adesanya. “He has so many weapons and, look at me, I feel I’m one of the greatest fighters of all time, and he (Jones) beat me twice. So, that says a lot about who he is as a competitor. But can Israel fight him? Yes, especially if Jon takes the wrong approach to fighting ‘Izzy.’ You fight Israel Adesanya, you better go get some takedowns because if you stand with him, he’s dangerous for anybody.”
For now, Jones is set to headline next week’s UFC 247 when he takes on undefeated Dominick Reyes, whereas Adesanya headlines the following pay-per-view event when he takes on Yoel Romero at Marchs’s UFC 248.
Daniel Cormier says 'it's going to take a heavyweight' to beat Jon Jones
