Ali Akbar Rosady
Former two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion Daniel Cormier has stated that Jon Jones, his long-standing rival and current UFC Heavyweight Champion, rejected a lucrative seven-figure offer for a six-minute exhibition wrestling match. The revelation, made by Cormier during a recent Q&A session on his YouTube channel, casts further doubt on the possibility of the two combat sports icons ever competing again, even in a non-MMA format.
The rivalry between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones stands as one of the most intense and defining sagas in UFC history. Spanning the better part of a decade, their animosity captivated audiences and drove significant pay-per-view numbers. Their initial encounter took place at UFC 182 on January 3, 2015, where Jones, then the reigning UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, successfully defended his title against Cormier via unanimous decision after a gruelling five-round contest. The build-up to this fight was marked by an infamous brawl at a media event, highlighting the deep personal animosity between the two fighters.
Their highly anticipated rematch occurred at UFC 214 on July 29, 2017, with Cormier holding the light heavyweight title. Jones delivered a devastating head kick in the third round, followed by ground and pound, securing a knockout victory and reclaiming the championship. However, the outcome was later overturned to a no-contest by the California State Athletic Commission after Jones tested positive for the banned substance Turinabol, a performance-enhancing drug. This incident further fueled the controversy surrounding their rivalry and left an indelible mark on both their careers and the sport’s history. Despite the official record adjustment, the narrative of their intense rivalry persisted, with fans and pundits consistently debating their respective legacies.
Even years after their last professional MMA bout, the specter of their rivalry continues to generate interest. Earlier this year, Cormier and Jones found themselves coaching opposite one another on the Russian MMA reality television show, ALF. This renewed interaction immediately reignited their long-dormant animosity, providing fresh fodder for speculation about a potential third confrontation outside the octagon. Following the show, Cormier openly discussed the possibility of a wrestling match against Jones within the burgeoning Real American Freestyle (RAF) promotion. RAF officials publicly expressed interest in facilitating such a high-profile matchup, acknowledging its potential as a "dream matchup" that would require significant alignment of circumstances.
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However, according to Cormier, while RAF showed enthusiasm, the financial scale of such an event would ultimately exceed their capacity. "The thing with Jon Jones: it wouldn’t be RAF, because they can’t afford to pay it," Cormier explained during his YouTube Q&A. He then disclosed the existence of a separate, unnamed organization that had put forward a substantial financial offer to both athletes. "But there’s an organization that offered us both seven figures for a six-minute match. He will not do it. I’m telling you, he will not do it. I’m not lying. I went through the negotiations, and I said, ‘If he wrestles me, I’ll do it. But it’s going to be 10-0. I’m going to tech him.’ But unfortunately, he knows it’s going to be 10-0, so he won’t do it."
Cormier’s assertion of a "10-0 tech" victory is rooted in his decorated amateur wrestling background. Daniel Cormier is an accomplished collegiate and Olympic-level wrestler. He was a two-time NJCAA National Champion at Colby Community College before transferring to Oklahoma State University, where he was an NCAA Division I National Runner-Up in 2000 and a National Champion in 2001. Cormier represented the United States at the Olympic Games in both 2004 and 2008, reaching the semi-finals in Athens and serving as team captain in Beijing. His wrestling pedigree is among the most elite in combat sports. Jon Jones also possesses a strong wrestling background, having won an NJCAA national championship at Iowa Central Community College. However, Cormier’s extensive freestyle wrestling experience at the international level theoretically positions him with a significant advantage in a pure wrestling contest, particularly in a short, high-intensity format.
Following the alleged rejection of the wrestling match, Cormier stated that he attempted to pivot the proposal to a grappling match, a discipline that incorporates submission holds in addition to positional control. "So then I said, ‘How about we do a grappling match?’" Cormier recounted. "He said no, only submissions. I said, ‘Why don’t we do points, right, where we win? I don’t want to be tied at the end.’ ‘No points, only submissions.’ So he won’t do it. He won’t compete with me in anything he thinks there’s a chance that he’d lose in. So, give up on the Jon Jones thing. He’s not going to do it." Jones’s alleged insistence on a "submissions-only" format without points suggests a preference for a scenario where a definitive victory might be harder to achieve through a purely scoring-based system, potentially mitigating the risk of a perceived technical defeat.
The reluctance attributed to Jones comes amidst a period of considerable uncertainty regarding his professional fighting career. After defeating Stipe Miocic via first-round technical knockout at UFC 309 to claim the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship, Jones was expected to unify his title against interim champion Tom Aspinall. However, Jones subsequently announced his retirement, a decision that surprised many within the MMA community given his recent championship victory. This retirement proved to be short-lived, as Jones later expressed interest in ending his hiatus to compete against Alex Pereira, a two-division UFC champion, at a hypothetical "UFC White House" event.
Further complicating Jones’s potential return to competition, he publicly revealed that he suffers from severe arthritis in his hips. This medical condition, he stated, has significantly hindered his ability to train and compete at the elite level required for UFC action. While Jones recently suggested that he could still be interested in a return, stating he was "moving like I never left," the underlying health concerns, particularly severe arthritis, present a legitimate impediment to engaging in high-impact physical contests such as wrestling or grappling. These health issues could offer an alternative, factual explanation for his alleged unwillingness to participate in a high-stakes exhibition match, rather than purely a fear of losing, as suggested by Cormier.
Jon Jones’s overall professional mixed martial arts record stands at 27 wins, 1 loss, and 1 no-contest, with his sole legitimate defeat being a disqualification. He holds numerous UFC records, including the most title defenses in the light heavyweight division (11) and the youngest champion in UFC history. Daniel Cormier retired from MMA with a record of 22 wins, 3 losses, and 1 no-contest, having held both the UFC Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Championships simultaneously. The financial allure of a seven-figure payday for a short exhibition match underscores the enduring marketability of their rivalry, even with both fighters either retired or grappling with career-altering injuries. The current impasse, as described by Cormier, suggests that a definitive resolution to their competitive saga, even outside the professional octagon, remains elusive.
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