Less than a week until Jon Jones returns to the UFC Octagon after he’s been sidelined for over a year. But although he’s on the brink of fighting the frenchman Ovince St. Preux in Las Vegas Nevada on Saturday for the 205 LB interim title, the tension 
between the current champ, Daniel Cormier and Jones is still there… Cormier was unable to take part in the light heavyweight title fight with Jon Jones due to a devastating injury. Jon Jones spoke of his widh to fight Cormier for the title in his hometown New York at Madison Square Garden at UFC 205 in November.
And Jones reiterated what he said in a conference call on Friday. Namely, that he wasn’t sure Cormier would sign off on something like that.
“Daniel Cormier is this guy who, he’s lost to me in the past [at UFC 182, and he’s a guy who instead of just accepting that I was a better fighter than him — and I am a better fighter than him — he comes up with a lot of excuses,” he said “He’ll say things like, ‘oh, it’s my first time fighting at this weight class, so I wasn’t ready for the change in my body.’ Or, ‘it was such a big fight, I guess I was a little nervous.’ Or, ‘I couldn’t train with Cain Velasquez, my number one training partner, so that’s why I lost.’ “So these are just signs that show me, you know, he’s mentally reaching for answers as to why he can’t beat me. To fight in my backyard in New York state, I think it would mentally be a huge disadvantage for him. I don’t think he’s mentally strong enough to take that type of risk.” He was then asked whether he was of the opinion that Cormier was injured or just “hurt”, the 28-year-old’s answer was doughtful…
“You know, it’s hard to say. I wasn’t there in the workout room with him when he got injured I’ll say. But, there’s been lots of rumors that he was hurt, not injured. And to drop the fight being ‘hurt,’ it just makes no sense. My body, I have aches and little nooks and crannies all over my body, but it’s the cost of being an elite level athlete. You fight through that stuff.”
Less than a week until Jon Jones returns to the UFC Octagon after he's been sidelined for over a year. But although he's on the brink of fighting the frenchman Ovince St. Preux in Las Vegas Nevada on Saturday for the 205 LB interim title, the tension between the current champ, Daniel Cormier and Jones is still there... Cormier was unable to take part in the light heavyweight title fight with Jon Jones due to a devastating injury. Jon Jones spoke of his widh to fight Cormier for the title in his hometown New York at Madison Square Garden at UFC 205 in November.
And Jones reiterated what he said in a conference call on Friday. Namely, that he wasn't sure Cormier would sign off on something like that.
"Daniel Cormier is this guy who, he's lost to me in the past [at UFC 182, and he's a guy who instead of just accepting that I was a better fighter than him -- and I am a better fighter than him -- he comes up with a lot of excuses," he said "He'll say things like, 'oh, it's my first time fighting at this weight class, so I wasn't ready for the change in my body.' Or, 'it was such a big fight, I guess I was a little nervous.' Or, 'I couldn't train with Cain Velasquez, my number one training partner, so that's why I lost.' "So these are just signs that show me, you know, he's mentally reaching for answers as to why he can't beat me. To fight in my backyard in New York state, I think it would mentally be a huge disadvantage for him. I don't think he's mentally strong enough to take that type of risk." He was then asked whether he was of the opinion that Cormier was injured or just “hurt”, the 28-year-old's answer was doughtful...
"You know, it's hard to say. I wasn't there in the workout room with him when he got injured I'll say. But, there's been lots of rumors that he was hurt, not injured. And to drop the fight being 'hurt,' it just makes no sense. My body, I have aches and little nooks and crannies all over my body, but it's the cost of being an elite level athlete. You fight through that stuff."
