‘I have nothing to prove’

If you’re hoping for a trilogy fight between current two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier (21-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) and former title holder Jon Jones (22-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC), don’t hold your breath.

“There’s no reason to grant (Cormier) a fight,” Jones said today in New York at a press conference promoting his UFC 232 fight with Alexander Gustafsson. “He got knocked out the last time we fought.”

Jones and Cormier have fought twice before, with “Bones” proving victorious each time. However, the most recent pairing, a July 2017 fight that Jones won via third-round knockout, was later overturned to a no contest when Jones tested positive for turinabol, a finding that ultimately led to a 15-month suspension order from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

Cormier was then again awarded the title he held before the fight – a belt he won in May 2015 after Jones was stripped of the championship for a violation of the UFC’s Athlete Code of Conduct.

Based on the circumstances, Jones said there’s really no reason for Cormier to consider himself the true champion of the division and said if “DC,” who also holds the UFC’s heavyweight title, wants to return to 205 pounds, he can face someone else.

That stands in stark contrast to Cormier’s earlier statements in the lead-up to Saturday’s UFC 232 event, when he said if by chance he lost his heavyweight title to Derrick Lewis, he could potentially move back down to 205 pounds and defend the light heavyweight title that is currently scheduled to be stripped from him when Jones and Gustafsson meet at UFC 232 in December, with the winner then being crowned champion.

“Defend the belt that was never his?” Jones asked. “I don’t understand how that works. If Daniel Cormier wants to come back down to light heavyweight, he’ll challenge one of the contenders for my belt.”

Of course, there has been some speculation that perhaps a third fight between the two would be best served to be contested at heavyweight, where perhaps things would play out differently than in their first two meetings. Jones said despite the fact that would potentially allow him to add another belt to his trophy case, a heavyweight meeting with Cormier isn’t appealing.

“I would fight ‘DC’ at heavyweight, but I feel I have nothing to prove,” Jones said. “I’ve beaten him twice. I feel like fighting him at heavyweight is putting all the cards in his favor. I have nothing to prove against Daniel Cormier.

“I always say that a lot of this fighting is not personal to me. My goals are just to be great. It’s not about these individual rivals. So me challenging Daniel Cormier would be making it a personal thing. If he had beat me, then I could see me challenging him, but it’s like, I’ve done enough to that guy. I’m going to let him breathe easy and enjoy some of his stuff.”

So for now, it seems the results of Saturday’s UFC 230 headliner between Cormier and Lewis will have no impact on Jones’ future. Instead, he said he’s looking for a stellar return to action after 18 months on the shelf and a chance to solidify his claim as an all-time great.

“I’m here, I’m in the present, and I’m back on the mission that I’ve always been on, and that’s to solidify myself as one of the greatest fighters ever,” Jones said.

For more on UFC 230 and UFC 232, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.