When Jon Jones tested positive for the steroid turinabol following his UFC 214 victory over Daniel Cormier, many fans came out of the woodwork to excoriate Jones for yet another failed drug test. But while Jones was being raked over the coals, the man with the most right to be upset about the failure reacted with grace, telling everyone to “lay off” Jones and show compassion for the man. It was the type of dignified statesmanship that has been a hallmark of Cormier’s career; it’s also something that his Fox Sports analyst compatriot Michael Bisping would like to see less of from Cormier.

Speaking on the most recent edition of his Believe You Me podcast, the UFC middleweight champion took Cormier to task for his judicious response, saying that were he in Cormier’s position, he would be chief among those going in on Jones.

“Listen, I really like Daniel Cormier, he’s a great guy, but that was me mockingly throwing up there. It’s like, come on, man. DC, say what’s on your mind because that isn’t what’s on your mind. What’s on your mind is, ‘Jon go f**k yourself, you f**king prick.’

“I like DC. DC’s a standup guy and God bless him, maybe - well, he’s not a better human being than me. That’s what I was going to say, maybe he’s a better human being than me. No, he’s not but maybe he has more sympathy for his opponent than I do because that’s not what I would have said. If someone f**king tests positive and kicks me in the head and knocks me out and takes my belt in front of the world, I’m not going to bang on about compassion. I’m gonna say, ‘You’re a piece of s**t and you’ve got no place being in the sport.’ Especially after testing positive before and all the other things that happened.”

Bisping has been among the most vocal opponents of PEDs in MMA and has gone on the record repeatedly about several of his own losses to opponents with a chemical edge, most notably when discussing his loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 100 when Henderson was on TRT, something which Henderson had a medical exemption for but was later banned for use in MMA. Considering this, it’s easy to take Bisping’s word that he would come down harder on Jones than Cormier and he in fact does, going into detail about all the reasons Cormier should be more vocal about Jones’ failure.

“The thing is, you’ve got to remember in that fight, DC was winning that fight. I thought DC won the first round and again I thought DC was winning it and then that head kick changed everything and that head kick wouldn’t have been delivered with the speed or ferocity had steroids not been involved. Now of course, like DC said, due process need to take its course but the writing on the wall is that he was on steroids and that kick wouldn’t have been as strong had steroids not been involved. Therefore, he was cheating, he knocked him out, he embarrassed him, he took his belt, he beat him up in front of the world, who knows if that’s gonna have a lasting effect on his body? So I’m sorry. Good for you Daniel Cormier but I wouldn’t say that. I’d be saying, ‘Screw this guy. Screw this guy.’

“DC doesn’t know what the lasting effects of being knocked out like that are gonna be. This isn’t a game. It isn’t a game and you don’t get knocked out and all of the sudden come back around and everything be the same again. It has a lasting effect on your brain. That substance inside your skull gets bounced around like crazy and damage is done to your brain. That’s why you see these fighters years later slurring their words, forgetting things, GSP saying he’s been abducted by aliens, because it’s real. It really happens and I would not be defending Jon Jones right now.”

The idea that Bisping and Cormier would handle a complicated situation like this differently isn’t exactly revelatory, and over the course of the discussion Bisping is extremely complimentary of Cormier’s diplomacy, but he ends his thoughts by circling back to the idea that Cormier is making a calculated business decision here instead of speaking his mind.

“Good for him. Do I believe that he really, really, really means that? I don’t know about that. Come on, man. . . [It’s a] PR move. Maybe I’m being cynical but that’s my thoughts on that.”

Michael Bisping faces Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217 on November 4th in Madison Square Garden.

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MUST-READ STORIES

No interest. Cris Cyborg responds to Edmund Tarverdyan, says she’s not interested in Rousey fight.

Return. Carlos Condit wants to fight again, possibly by year’s end.

Defense. Stipe Miocic wants his next title defense to be before the end of the year.

Tournament. Combate Americas announced a one-night, $100,000 tournament.

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VIDEO STEW

Awesome.

Free fights, including a 15-second KO.

DC on the Byrd situation.

Bobby Lashley says Mir would be a good fight.

Owen Roddy looking at Perry’s finish of Reyes from the weekend.

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LISTEN UP

Obviously Fight Talk. Darren Till and Michael Conlan interviews.

MMA Unfiltered. Dominick Cruz interview.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

YES! Give me Condit vs. Wonderboy, please and thank you.

Good move.

#wouldwatch

Pickin’ a fight.

Caraway unhappy with the new fight announcement.

SportsCenter not realizing Cyborg and Ronda never fought.

We’ll see if he is.

UFC getting real big brother these days.

FOX let go of their writing staff so they could produce high quality stuff like this.

Thoughts?

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mackenzie Dern (3-0) vs. Mandy Polk (3-3); LFA 24, Oct. 13.

Jim Miller (28-10, 1 NC) vs. Francisco Trinaldo (21-5); UFC Sao Paulo, Oct. 28.

John Lineker (29-8) vs. Marlon Vera (12-3-1); UFC Sao Paulo, Oct. 28.

Ilima MacFarlane (6-0) vs. Emily Ducote (6-2); Bellator 186, Nov. 3.

Eduard Folayang (18-5) vs. Martin Nguyen (9-1); ONE Championship, Nov. 10.

Sage Northcutt (8-2) vs. Michel Quinones (8-2); UFC Norfolk, Nov. 11.

Raphael Assuncao (25-5) vs. Matthew Lopez (10-1); UFC Norfolk, Nov. 11.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Take it easy and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram, add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting, and like us on Facebook.