Jon Jones to Daniel Cormier: ‘You protect your pride with lies’

Oh, you thought Jon Jones was going to let this one go?

On this week’s UFC Tonight, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier opined about Jones’ past history of drug use. Jones tested positive for two banned substances last year, scrapping his title fight with Cormier just three days before UFC 200. Cormier theorized Wednesday on the FS1 show that Jones was taking something illegal before — perhaps when the two of them fought previously — then got off it before going back on again prior to UFC 200.

“I think he fought Ovince Saint Preux clean, and he didn’t like the way he felt, and tried to do something again dirty and he got caught at UFC 200,” Cormier said.

Jones took to Twitter on Thursday to respond to those accusations. He’ll meet Cormier in the main event of UFC 214 on July 29 in Anaheim, Calif.

“Imagine having so much power over a man that he thinks your abilities are supernatural,” Jones wrote in one tweet.

Alexander Gustafsson said Monday on The MMA Hour that he believes Jones was “on something” when the two of them fought in 2013. Jones won that via a close unanimous decision. Jones beat Cormier at UFC 182 in January 2015 by unanimous decision.

The substances Jones tested positive for, and that earned him a one-year USADA suspension, were clomiphene and letrozol, both anti-estrogen agents and not steroids. Jones has maintained that those got into his system inadvertently through the ingestion of off-brand male enhancement pills.

“You heard Alexander Gustafsson now is saying he believes that Jon was enhanced throughout his career,” Cormier said on UFC Tonight. “But before, we had no sanctioning body like USADA. USADA now is on top of all that, so I do believe that we will see a different fighter in Anaheim, because I do believe he’ll have to be clean this time, otherwise he’ll be caught.”

Jones, regarded as arguably the greatest fighter of all time, fired back on Twitter, saying Cormier is just protecting his “pride” with comments like that, insinuating that Cormier is trying to explain away his loss to Jones two years ago with PED allegations.

“The difference between you and I,” Jones said. “I've punished the motherfuckers I thought were on steroids. You protect your pride with lies.”

Update

Cormier took to Twitter to respond, writing Jones has, indeed, punished cheaters — he’s punished himself.