UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier was recently in formal negotiations to compete against Jon Jones in wrestling, but Jones shut down talks.
UFC legends Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones will likely never be friends. Despite being years removed from their two UFC showdowns, tensions between Jones and Cormier remain high, as evidenced by their time coaching against each other on ALF Reality 3, a Russian spinoff of The Ultimate Fighter.
Cormier and Jones’ competitive fire reignited on the show, as the two teased a potential boxing or wrestling match to settle their long-standing feud. But as of this writing, nothing has come to fruition for Cormier and Jones to go head-to-head again.
According to Cormier, a matchup with Jones in wrestling was in the works for later this year for an unspecified event before his two-time rival shut it down.
Daniel Cormier: Jon Jones turned down a seven-figure offer, sabotaged fight talks
In a recent Q&A at UFC Freedom 250, Cormier was asked about a potential wrestling match with Jones and accused his two-time rival of thwarting recent negotiations.
“It wouldn’t be in RAF because they can’t afford to pay it, but there’s an organization that offered us both seven figures for a six-minute match. He will not do it,” Cormier said of Jones.
“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 [beat him technically], but he knows it’s going to be 10-0 so he won’t do it. So I said how about a grappling match? He said no, only submissions.
“Then I said what about points?” Cormier continued on Jones. “I don’t want to be tied at the end. But he said no points, only submissions. He won’t compete with me in anything that he thinks there’s a chance that he would lose. So give up on the Jon Jones thing, he’s not going to do it.”
As of this writing, Jones hasn’t responded to Cormier’s claims. He retired from Mixed Martial Arts after his recent exclusion from UFC Freedom 250.
Who wins in a Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones wrestling match? Let us know in the comments!