Jon Jones is in talks to make his long-awaited Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) return at the upcoming UFC 232 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Dec. 29, 2018 against longtime division rival Alexander Gustafsson.
And if the promotion has its way, it could be for the official Light Heavyweight title that is currently held by company “champ-champ” Daniel Cormier. “DC” says UFC will likely strip him of the belt to put it on the line, which has made things between he and the organization unusually tense.
“They are going to take that belt. Because I am scheduled to fight Brock, I cannot fight at 205 first, so I am pretty sure they will take that title. One of the things that I ask for as a competitor is that if they do take they belt, the guarantee me a title fight upon the result of the fight that those guys will have,” he said on a recent interview on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.
Of course, Cormier was crowned the division champ after Jones -- who knocked him out at UFC 214 to regain the title — was stripped of the belt for failing his second drug test.
The potential stripping of Cormier, though, just doesn’t feel right.
Nevertheless, despite being upset about the prospect of losing his title, “DC” says he is okay with it as long as the promotion grants him a shot against the winner once he settles his business with Brock Lesnar in their potential heavyweight championship fight.
“Initially they told me they were going to do this for Gustafsson vs. Romero and I told them to guarantee me a title shot when the result is done. So if the rumors are true of Jones vs. Gustafsson, I imagine it’s going to be for the belt. Just guarantee me a title shot when it’s done.”
Still, that blockbuster matchup hasn’t been officially given the green-light, though “DC” is confident it will get done. And since he intends to “beat the shit” out of Lesnar rather quickly, hopefully in January, he plans to make a quick turnaround to face the Jones vs. Gus winner in March of 2019.
Which puts him on track to stick to his retirement plans.
As for Jones and his recent retroactive suspension and allegations of “snitching,” Cormier says tattling on someone to USADA is nothing new, it’s just that “Jonny Brasco” was the only fighter to ever take the deal.
“Crocop was offered the same deal. This is not anything new, Jon was just the only one that took it. Jonny Brasco. Jon will be in Albuquerque, a black USADA car pulls up, they take him in somewhere and Jon starts handing out information, screen grabs and everything,” he added.
“How do you tell? How are you going to tell on somebody else, man? You got 30 months reduced off your suspension, and his team is out there saying he told on himself. No he didn’t. USADA came back and said that’s not true. Not only did he snitch, he still has to cooperate and keep doing so if he wants to keep his deal.”