The enmity between UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and former titleholder Jon Jones is such that other fighters have been drawn into their orbit.
The latest? Walt Harris, who simply wanted to take a picture with Cormier after Harris defeated Cody East to earn his first UFC win Saturday night at UFC 197.
"The guy really doesn't like me. He detests me... I was walking into the arena with my fiancee and my manager, and I see Walt Harris," Cormier said on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour. "Walt said, ‘can I have a picture?' I said sure. I guess Jon goes into the arena to see the fans and all, and he saw Walt and I taking a picture. So he looks back and says ‘Walt, erase that picture you took, bro.' Poor Walt was stuck in the middle of this, Ovince Saint Preux is stuck in the middle, but you kind of like get drawn into our s---.
"Then we're like staring each other. What does this guy think I'm scared of him or something? What's his problem? That was the only time I saw him. He was very cordial to Bob Cook earlier in the day when Bob was alone. It's just me. The sight of me drives him crazy. It's funny."
Such is the case whenever anyone gets too close to the rivals. Saturday, Cormier did color commentary while Jones made his return to the Octagon, defeating Ovince Saint Preux in the main event at the MGM Grand.
The duo are expected to become the main event of UFC 200, pending Cormier's medical clearance. So when news filtered out that Jones was on a wheelchair after the fight -- which turned out to be nothing serious -- Cormier admits he got scared.
"Panicked a little bit because I want to fight," Cormier said. "It scares me to think that if we can't fight in July, they would make us wait all the way to UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden, which would be great, it would be huge to be part of that, but it would put me out for over a year. I've never had that happen. At 37, I don't want to be out for a year. For me the ideal would be to fight in July beat him and then rematch in November in Madison Square Garden."
Cormier has undergone physical therapy and stem cell treatment as he looks to rebound from the shin injury which caused him to pull out from his originally scheduled UFC 197 date with Jones. As he waited to get word on whether he can make the UFC 200 date, he said he believed the July 9 date is plenty of time to get ready.
"I don't know if I can do everything 100 percent right now, but I can do some things," Cormier said. "And I think the things I can do right now would give me enough to actually start preparing, there's still quite a bit of time, 11 weeks or so, so, 10 weeks of training. If I had to take another 3-4 weeks to heal, I think that's sufficient time."
Ultimately, all the matters to Cormier is that he gets healthy enough to once again compete. And the idea of seeing his name on the marquee at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas makes for a big motivator.
"If this was to happen, the biggest UFC card to date, UFC 200, would always have me first on the marquee," he said. "Cormier is on the marquee. UFC 200 Cormier vs. Jones 2, first name listed, that would always be there in history, a part of history. Legacy and history mean something to me, having that would always be a big deal in my mind."
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Jon Jones's post-fight press conference
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