Jones won't bite on third bout vs. Cormier

[October 05, 2018]    Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, soon to be reinstated from a doping suspension, has no plans to schedule a third bout with Daniel Cormier.

Jon Jones puts his arms in the air after the UFC light heavy weight championship fight against Glover Texeira at Baltimore Arena. Jones retained the light heavy weight championship by defeating Teixeria. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

In a story published Thursday night, Jones told ESPN's Ariel Helwani that Cormier isn't on his radar. Jones earned a unanimous decision over Cormier on Jan. 3, 2015, then knocked out Cormier on July 29, 2017, only to have the latter bout declared a no-contest when Jones flunked a drug test.

"I already have all the marbles when it comes to Daniel Cormier," Jones told Helwani. "I've beaten him twice. This game has never been personal. What is personal to me is chasing greatness, not individuals. So in the case of myself and Daniel Cormier, he needs to fight myself one more time if he ever wants to be considered one of the all-time greats. I don't need to fight him again to be considered one of the all-time greats. I have many more years to prove it."

Cormier, the current UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, told TMZ on Wednesday that he wants to fight Brock Lesnar for the heavyweight crown and then Jones for the light heavyweight title.

"I want to fight Jones at 205 (pounds), because that's where he beat me," Cormier told TMZ. "He beat me at 205. I want to beat him where he beat me.

"I think Jon and I are in the same wavelength on that, and we are never on the same wavelength, we don't agree on anything. It's always going to be intense, and we both want to fight at 205."

Jones (22-1, one no-contest) is due to be reinstated Oct. 28 from a 15-month suspension levied by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. His system was found to have metabolites of an anabolic steroid on the eve of his bout against Cormier at UFC 214.

As part of USADA's ruling, Jones, from Rochester, N.Y., also was ordered to do three months of community service and pay a $205,000 fine to regain his fight license.

UFC president Dana White recently told ESPN he is aiming to match Jones up with Alexander Gustafsson on Dec. 29 at UFC 232 in Las Vegas.

Since the bout last year against Jones, the San Jose, Calif.-based Cormier (21-1, one no-contest) defeated Volkan Oezdemir by technical knockout in January and knocked out Stipe Miocic in July.

--Field Level Media

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