Jon Jones hopes to end bitter rivalry with Daniel Cormier at UFC 214
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Good vs. evil is among the most basic of all narratives, one generally easy to comprehend. Which one is which is not always such a simple concept.
Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier will finally step back into the octagon to face off for the UFC light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 214 at the Honda Center on Saturday night.
Jones is the much-maligned wunderkind with a well-documented past of failed drug tests and multiple run-ins with authorities, including a 2015 hit-and-run incident for which he was stripped of the UFC belt.
Cormier is an Olympian with a pleasant disposition as long as Jones isn’t around.
He is a family man who runs a youth wrestling program, and he has communication skills that have made him one of the most promising commentators the sport of mixed martial arts has produced.
Even Jones concedes the bitter rival with whom he has exchanged so much venom over the last several years is a model citizen. He just wishes Cormier wouldn’t feel the need to use Jones’ struggles as a way to prop himself up.
“I think that he deserves respect because he is a good guy,” Jones said of the man who has held the belt since May 2015, just a month after Jones was stripped. “But you don’t have to (expletive) on other people to try to make yourself seem that much better. We see that you’re a good person. I admire a lot of things about you. Don’t (expletive) try to crush somebody else’s image to make yourself seem mightier.”
A large percentage of fans seem to be in agreement.
No matter what transgressions Jones commits, his fan base only seems to grow.
While Jones has fought just once since handing Cormier the only loss of his career in January 2015, Cormier has won the title and racked up three more victories.
Yet his words when he is onstage with Jones always seem to be drowned out by boos.
Jones, 30, believes part of that is because he finally has learned to be open about his flaws and at least somewhat embrace who he is instead of trying to portray a certain image in the media. He also thinks Cormier has soured fans with his constant reminders of everything Jones has done wrong.
“This whole thing that we’re going through has become an attack of my character,” Jones said. “This is the first time I’ve been against someone who’s literally fighting to prove that I’m a bad guy. (Expletive) it. Call me the bad guy. I’m not fighting to be the good guy. Listen to his interviews. It’s always the same (expletive).
“I feel that when Daniel loses he wants to be able to say, ‘Well, I’m a (expletive) good guy and at least people will respect me for being a good champion when I had that belt in Jon’s absence.’”
Complex characters
Cormier insists he too has evolved from someone who was bothered by the negative fan reaction to a champion who is aware that apathy is the only enemy.
“Boo me,” he said. “I like it. It motivates me. It always feels good to be cheered, but I’ve come to learn it does not matter what the reception is. I’m here to do a job.
“I’m just comfortable with me. I’ve always been honest.”
Jones has certainly brought out some negative elements in Cormier’s personality. Cormier concedes he will be embarrassed by some of his actions when his children start to get older and ask him about some of his language, the water bottle he threw at Jones earlier this year backstage at a media event and even the brawl between the fighters in the lobby of the MGM Grand in 2014.
Jones may have even more to explain, but all characters are complex.
“I think there’s a lot of different ranges of Jon Jones,” his striking coach Brandon Gibson said. “He is that son of a pastor, and he’s also the guy that’s made the mistakes that everyone has seen. Jon has the biggest heart of all the fighters I know. He’s a very caring and loving person. There’s also a side of him that’s not afraid to dominate and destroy people, too.”
Jones hopes to show that side on Saturday.
“I never intended on having an image of being the bad guy,” Jones said. “Somewhere along the way, I got lost and I got caught up in my own (expletive), man. I started having fun and partying and still winning and I took it all for granted. Genuinely, I wanted to be an inspiration to other people and be a role model. That was my original thought, and somewhere along the line I stopped caring and I started living for myself.
“The story is not over, and I’m excited to finish it. We’re not our past. We’re not our mistakes. We’re what we do with it. I feel like this win on Saturday, it’s going to allow the fans to forgive and forget a little bit and to start to get excited about my future.”
Jones can begin that process Saturday by putting his most intense rivalry in the past.
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Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @adamhilllvrj on Twitter.
UFC 214
Main card bouts on Saturday at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
— Daniel Cormier (19-1) vs. Jon Jones (22-1), for Cormier’s light heavyweight title
— Tyron Woodley (16-3-1) vs. Demian Maia (25-6), for Woodley’s welterweight title
— Cris “Cyborg” Justino (16-1, 1 no contest) vs. Tonya Evinger (19-5), for vacant women’s featherweight title
— Robbie Lawler (27-11, 1 No Contest) vs. Donald Cerrone (32-8, 1 no contest), welterweights
— Jimi Manuwa (17-2) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (14-1), light heavyweights
