Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier engaged in one of the nastiest rivalries in UFC history but will they ever meet again — perhaps this time on the wrestling mats?
Well, Cormier, a two-time Olympian, has said publicly that Jones wants no part of a wrestling match against him. But RAF officials are still holding out hope to make it happen, although Lance Palmer, the current head of talent relations who is also competing at RAF 10 against Aaron Pico, admits it’s not going to be easy.
“There’s a lot of moving
parts that would have to be made right for it to happen,” Palmer told MMA Fighting. “I think if they both really wanted to do it, we could make it happen.”
At 47, Cormier has already been retired from competition for a few years but Jones was actively pursuing a fight at the UFC White House card just recently until his request was denied.
Jones appeared at RAF 9 in May alongside recent UFC signee Gable Steveson and admitted that he’d love the opportunity to return to the wrestling mats after he competed in college before moving to MMA on a full-time basis.
But Cormier has still scoffed at Jones ever accepting a match against him while promising to blank the former UFC two-division champion in lopsided fashion if they ever meet.
Add to that, Jones has spoken about the struggles he’s faced with arthritis in his hips and that could become a very serious issue if he was preparing for a wrestling match.
“Physically for both of those guys, I just don’t see it happening but I mean we said that in the past about other things,” Palmer said. “We had Jon at our last event in Dallas, he was with Gable Steveson, which was awesome. Jon’s always been a great guy. Him and his brother, I’ve always been close with over the years.
“I think that’s just going to come down to circumstance if we did get Jones vs. Cormier. People want to see that obviously but that’s kind of one of those things where it’s like if all the stars align, I think we can make it happen but there’s just really not a timeline on it.”
Palmer commented on RAF already serving as a stage for some retired fighters to return to action and he doesn’t see why Jones and Cormier couldn’t embrace that same philosophy.
“I think they’d both have fun doing it plus everybody’s seen [Chris] Weidman just stepped on the mat. I think he’s 41 or something,” Palmer said. “Maybe a little older but he’s in his 40s. He just stepped on the mat. Frankie Edgar just stepped on the mat. All these guys are getting in shape to wrestle, which is awesome to see.
“Because usually MMA guys would retire and they would have nothing else. They would go do some jiu-jitsu match or something, just to show up there. Even [Urijah] Faber, getting these guys back on the wrestling mat where they first started their love for sports as a kid, it’s awesome to watch.”
With RAF celebrating its one year anniversary with a massive card planned for Cleveland in August, Palmer expects some really fun matchmaking but he’s unsure if Jones vs. Cormier is actually a possibility.
Palmer remains hopeful, but he says the real decision comes down to the fighters.
“We’ll see what happens,” Palmer said. “We’ll see if they really want to do it.”
