Jon Jones recently tried to stir the pot with longtime rival Daniel Cormier, claiming the animosity between them wasn’t real. In an interview with ALF Global, the former two-division UFC champion claimed that in a conversation he had with Cormier away from the cameras, DC admitted to him that keeping their rivalry alive was too profitable for him, which is why Cormier hopes to never quash it. 

For Daniel Cormier, who has spent years openly expressing his disdain for Jon Jones, it couldn’t be further from the truth. In his response to Jones’ claim, DC accused him of lying about their conversation.

“Jon Jones was talking about him and I’s relationship. You know what, Luis? Play that video where Jones called me an a–hole after the show, talking about how I treat my team. Okay, now look at the difference in that,” Cormier said in the clip on his Instagram. “How does a person go from, ‘He’s such an a–hole,’ to now it’s like, ‘I would love to have this relationship with him, and he doesn’t hate me?’ That just didn’t happen. This is not a conversation that Jon and I had.

“Hey, have I made a lot of money because Jon Jones and I have been on the wrong side of each other? Yes. And so did Muhammad Ali with Joe Frazier. So did Khabib with Conor McGregor. You always need a person on the other side in order to make the big dollars. Of course, we make money because our rivalry has been what it’s been. It doesn’t mean that it’s fabricated. We said nasty, nasty things about each other. Doesn’t just go away. Unless you’re crazy. And I think Jon’s crazy.”

Even in the captions, Daniel Cormier’s response was equally strong.

“Don’t let this man sit up there and lie to y’all about a conversation we had in his mind. It is still f–k Jon Jones and will be,” DC noted.

Going by Daniel Cormier’s statement here, his contempt toward Jones seems alive and burning. However, Jones did try to bury the hatchet with DC during their stint on the ALF Global reality show as coaches for opposing teams and tried to leave behind their lengthy history of personal animosity. But it was Cormier who ultimately refused to shake hands. Addressing that, Jones called him an “a–hole” after the show for refusing to bury the hatchet.

Back in January, Cormier addressed the situation with Jones on Ariel Helwani’s show.

While DC admitted he held no personal grudge against Jones and can maintain a “cordial” working relationship with him, the former UFC champion also clarified that he has no intention of being his friend given their history. And to be fair, both men earned a substantial paycheck for their stint on the ALF show.

After The Ultimate Fighter’s Russian spinoff ended with Daniel Cormier’s team claiming victory, he got into a dispute with Jones over the payment of a $5,000 bet. During the disagreement, Jones revealed that ALF paid him $1 million for appearing on the show. In turn, DC disclosed that he received a substantial $800,000 payday for his stint.

Looking at those numbers, it’s understandable why Cormier would want to continue a rivalry that has undoubtedly made both men more money. In fact, both fighters were rumored to be interested in clashing in a freestyle wrestling match after the show, which could have earned them millions. But Cormier claimed Jones turned down the clash because he feared a beatdown in wrestling.

However, this isn’t the first time Daniel Cormier has accused Jon Jones of lying. 

Daniel Cormier says Jon Jones intentionally leaked his arthritis issue  

Jon Jones ended his retirement last year by re-entering the UFC’s drug testing pool, seemingly to compete on the UFC White House card. He also pushed for a showdown with Alex Pereira and even urged Dana White to book him for the historic event. But the former two-division champion’s chances took a significant hit after a fan leaked a private conversation he had with the UFC great while wearing Meta glasses, in which Jones revealed that he was dealing with severe hip arthritis and in need of surgery. This prompted the UFC CEO to state that Jones was not in consideration for the White House event since he was dealing with hip arthritis.

Subsequently, ‘Bones’ expressed his disappointment with the fan for leaking their private conversation to the media, exposing his serious health condition. Still, Daniel Cormier did not buy that explanation. According to DC, his longtime rival knew the fan was recording him and deliberately allowed the conversation to be captured because he wanted the world to know he is done fighting. 

“Jon said the kid filmed him without his knowledge,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “The moment they start recording, they press this button; there’s a white light on the side of these [Meta] glasses that tells you they’re recording. How could he have missed that?  Now, I saw the video. It looked like he kind of glanced at the kid, spoke to the kid; maybe he missed it, giving him the benefit of the doubt, but to be honest, it’s hard not to know that you’re on video. So, I believe that information like that, that if it’s that close to the vest, you don’t share it with some random person either.

“I don’t know that everything he does isn’t intended to be taken in the way that it’s taken. It feels like everything he does has a purpose. So, I don’t believe it, and I don’t think you should, because I don’t think that he was unaware of the video. I think that Jon Jones knew what he was doing. I think that he wanted people to know that he’s injured, and I think that’s exactly the way that he wanted it to happen, by giving it to an influencer. Then that influencer put it on the internet, and then he could feign ignorance and go, ‘Oh my god, I got caught.’ Not true.”  

Following this, Jon Jones did not respond to Cormier’s claims. However, the two continue to be at odds, regardless of how they are privately. Given their long history of animosity, it is evident that the former UFC champions are unlikely to ever put their rivalry behind them.