Daniel Cormier responds to Jon Jones after catching stray jab in Tom Aspinall beef

Daniel Cormier took a shot from Jon Jones in a feud that he isn’t even part of.

Jones recently took to social media to address those criticizing his favoring Stipe Miocic over a fight with Tom Aspinall, a matchup that would pit undisputed heavyweight champion Jones against the current interim champion. As part of his defense, Jones attempted to discredit Aspinall winning the interim title while Jones is out with an injury, comparing the situation to when Cormier reigned as light heavyweight champion.

On YouTube, Cormier refuted Jones’ comparison, saying that Jones being sidelined with an injury and Jones being out due to a drug-test suspension is not the same thing.

“Right now, Jon is out due injury,” Cormier said. “He’s out due to injury, so Tom Aspinall is now the champ, I get that. But that’s not what was going on when [Jones] and I were fighting. He misrepresented what the situation was. Tom Aspinall is not the champion because of [Jones’] absence, so much. Tom Aspinall is the champion because he was available, won the belt when Jon got hurt—well, actually, you know what, Jon was right, Tom is only interim champion because of his absence—and honestly, he beat me, so maybe I wouldn’t have been the champ? But he was disqualifying himself.

“It’s two different situations. Right now, he injured himself. With me, it was him getting caught doing things he’s not supposed to and then getting stripped and taken out of the competition. So while it may seem the same, it’s not the same. He was incapable of competing when I was the champion. He was not allowed to compete when I was the champion. Not due to injury, due to illegal substances found inside of his body. That’s just the truth. Right now, Jones has said, he is ahead of the schedule. They said it would be a year and a half before he’d be able to compete. He’s so far ahead, he’s looking forward, he’s back in the gym training, so if he decided today I’m going to go and I’m going to fight, there’d be nothing to stop him. That would be his decision, him and his doctors. But when him and I were fighting and he kept getting in trouble, he could not go, ‘I’m back in the gym and I’m ready to fight.’ He couldn’t. It was illegal. That’s where the situation varies, that’s where the situation is different.”

Cormier’s first title win came in April 2017, when he defeated Anthony Johnson to win a light heavyweight belt that was vacated by Jones. The title was up for grabs after the UFC stripped Jones for his involvement as the perpetrator in a hit-and-run.

That set up a rematch between Cormier and Jones at UFC 214—they first fought at UFC 182, with Jones earning a unanimous decision nod—where Jones defeated Cormier by knockout. However, that result was subsequently overturned to a no-contest when Jones later tested positive for banned substances. Under that ruling, Cormier officially retained his title and he went on to successfully defend it against Volkan Oezdemir before moving up to heavyweight to claim a second belt.

From Cormier’s perspective, Jones has a gift for reshaping his career’s complicated narrative.

“It’s time to stop lumping everything together, but sleight of hand is what Jon is very good at,” Cormier said. “On one hand, people will say he did X, Y, and Z; on the other hand, he’ll go, ‘Look at this guys, look at what I have and this is what I say so this needs to be the truth.’ I’m saying this because now it’s time for me to say it, it’s not the same thing. The reality is in this situation, I’ve been more on his side than I am in most situations because I think he should fight [Stipe] Miocic.

“Would I like to see him fight Aspinall? Sure. But he’s fought generation after generation of greats, what is there really to prove? Miocic would be the last great from the generation that he lived in to essentially foil and up a weight class.”

Through all of the recent controversy, Jones has maintained that his heart is set on the Miocic matchup, which Cormier believes is justified given their impressive legacies.

“People seem to want to make it seem like he’s afraid of Tom Aspinall and that’s why he’s not fighting him,” Cormier said. “I would not go so far as to say he’s afraid of that dude. I think what’s happening is he’s kind of made his mind up on something and he’s just standing with it. He’s like, ‘I’m not changing. I’m going to keep it as it is. I know what I want to do.’ Part of the reason it was so hard to understand was because Stipe wasn’t saying anything. It had been so long since you had seen him do or say anything in regards to the fight that it seems like it’s Jon talking about the fight but no one else.

“Stipe went on a podcast the other day, he said that for him, it’s more about the Jones fight than even the championship belt. I guess when you’re a guy that’s had as many belts as Stipe has, it doesn’t matter.”