Daniel Cormier has no intention of fighting Jon Jones for a third time. Appearing on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show, the UFC heavyweight champion told ESPN he no longer feels the need to face Jon Jones again before retirement.
"I don't need [the Jones fight] anymore," Cormier said. "Sometimes you need things and sometimes you don't. ... I've come to terms with everything. Because he was gone so much, I had to remove myself from the situation so completely that it almost became not reality."
"I would have to truly retrain my mind to understand that he's even back in the game," Cormier continued. "And the reality is, can I really understand that he's truly going to be back in the game? History shows that there will probably be some sort of issue."
Daniel Cormier vs Jon Jones has been an intense, though mostly one-sided rivalry. In two fights, Jones has emerged the victor in both.
Jones first defeated Cormier by unanimous decision at UFC 182 in 2015, but was stripped of the light heavyweight belt after an arrest following a hit-and-run accident. Cormier defeated Anthony Johnson for the interim belt. Jones and Cormier were scheduled to meet again at UFC 200 in July 2016, but Jones failed a prefight drug test and was pulled from the card. The two fighters finally met for a rematch at UFC 214 in July 2017 which Jones won by TKO in the third round; however, the result was later switched to a no-contest after Jones tested positive for Turinabol, an anabolic steroid. Cormier was reinstated as light heavyweight champion and went on to defeat Volkan Oezdemir in January 2018.
Since then, Cormier has also become the UFC heavyweight champion, defending his belt this past weekend against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230. Unable to balance defending both belts, it seems the UFC has stripped Cormier of his light heavyweight belt, despite his protests. Jon Jones is set to face Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 on December 29 in a highly anticipated rematch that will determine the new light heavyweight champion. Jones previously defeated Gustaffson by unanimous decision in a legendary match back in 2013.
Despite the outcome of UFC 232, it appears Cormier is content with his decision to retire by the age of 40, which will be March 2019. While nothing has been finalized, there has been plenty of speculation that Cormier's final fight will be against UFC superstar Brock Lesnar.