Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier’s rivalry continues on.
On a recent episode of Club Shay Shay, Cormier told Shannon Sharpe he can’t consider his two-time opponent the greatest of all-time due to Jones testing positive for Turinabol, a steroid Jones tested positive for during an in-competition test the day before UFC 214. “DC” also left Jones off of his Mount Rushmore.
After the interview went live, Jones reacted on Twitter.
“When DC tells his story, somehow I’m always the co-star,“ Jones wrote. ”Thanks [Shannon Sharpe]
for the invite, even if I was only there in spirit.“
Both A and B samples tested positive in relation to the July 2017 event where Jones knocked out Cormier in the third round of their rematch to cap off the pay-per-view card in Anaheim. The result was eventually ruled a No Contest, and Jones was stripped of the light heavyweight title weeks later, and Cormier was reinstated as champion.
Prior to that, Jones and Cormier were slated to headline UFC 200 in July 2016. Just three days before the massive event, Jones was pulled from the card after testing positive for estrogen blockers. Cormier went on to face Anderson Silva on the card, winning a unanimous decision.
Jones continued tweeting, letting his feelings be known that despite all he’s accomplished, he’s insulted by the fact that Cormier continues to label him a cheat. “Bones” cites it was his overall ability and skill set that led to his success, and nothing more.
“High school state champ, JUCO national champ, youngest UFC champion, greatest in MMA history,” Jones said. “A lifetime of loss, victories and sacrifice and this guy wants to write it all off as steroids. Honestly, it’s insulting. But I can’t help but laugh, knowing it was God given abilities that made him feel so inferior.”
Following UFC Baku in June, UFC CEO Dana White revealed that Jones had informed the promotion of his retirement, and vacated the heavyweight title — which he won with a submission of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023, and successfully defended with a knockout win over Stipe Miocic this past November at UFC 309. Tom Aspinall, who had become the longest reigning interim champion in UFC history, was promoted to undisputed titleholder.
Jones is already back in the UFC’s drug-testing pool in hopes of a return to compete at the UFC’s proposed July 4 event at the White House in 2026. White said on multiple occasions Jones will not compete at the event, and placed the odds at “a billion-to-one.”
