Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping doesn’t agree with former two-division champion Daniel Cormier‘s assessment of Jon Jones’ future in the heavyweight division.
Cormier recently weighed in on his bitter rival’s chances of becoming the UFC champion this year.
“I believe Jon Jones will fight at heavyweight. And he’ll fight for the belt, but he’ll lose to Ciryl Gane or Francis Ngannou,” Cormier said on his DC and RC ESPN MMA show.
“I just think with the time away, the weight difference, those guys being who they are – That’s the problem. It’s not that Jones has gotten worse. It’s just that these guys are a different level of heavyweight,” Cormier said.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel on Thursday, Bisping disagreed with his friend and colleague and believes Cormier’s rivalry with Jones may be clouding his judgement.
“They (Ngannou and Gane) are different, but I think I’ve got to disagree with Daniel Cormier here,” Bisping said. “These guys (Cormier and Jones) don’t like each other. They are major rivals. I’ve never had a rivalry like this, not somebody that I hated to that degree.”
“I didn’t have a rival to the sense that DC and Jon Jones does because it is deep. It is deep with these two. They never liked each other from the day they first met. It was in a nightclub, and right there and then they knew they were going to fight, and fight they did.”
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Jones holds two wins over Cormier in title bouts. The second one was overturned and ruled a no contest after Jones tested positive to Turinabol. While Cormier doesn’t think Jones will become a two-division UFC champion, Bisping
“Regardless of his behavior outside of the octagon, which hasn’t been great. Regardless of the steroid tests, which does change things. It’s a massive asterisk,” Bisping said. “But the reality is, if you look at the performances, he (Jones) potentially is the greatest of all time. We’re talking the longest win steak in UFC history. Most title fight wins in UFC history. Has never lost a fight other than a disqualification… And he’s not even 35 yet.”
“There’s no what they he’s going to show up ‘old’ as they say. Now, he does have a problem. Ciryl Gane is unbelievable. Francis Ngannou is unbelievable,” Bisping said. “Jon Jones is out there. Jon Jones has a resume. Jon Jones is one of the best to ever do it. So to say that he can’t comeback after this time and beat those guys, I don’t think that I agree. I don’t think I agree.”
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Michael Bisping disagrees with Daniel Cormier on Jon Jones’ UFC heavyweight title chances