"Hats off to Jon Jones" - Daniel Cormier praises UFC light heavyweight champion for calling out Francis Ngannou
It looks like Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones have finally made peace with each other. The pair have been the fiercest of rivals in the past and don't really exchange niceties but Cormier recently revealed that he respects his former foe Jones for calling out probably the most dangerous heavyweight on the UFC roster at the moment, Francis Ngannou.
Jon Jones has previously spoken about making a move to heavyweight but this time, his plans to move up a weight class in the quest for the heavyweight title seem pretty serious given the fact that Jones himself mentioned the possibility of facing Ngannou in a heavyweight clash of epic proportions.
Cormier knows everything about Jon Jones as a fighter. Having faced Jones twice in a pair of grudge matches and lost both, one would think that the mere mention of the name "Jon Jones" would irk DC to no end but that isn't really the case. Cormier is a gentleman and wouldn't shy away from giving credit where it's due. Speaking with ESPN journalist Ariel Helwani on the latter's MMA show, Cormier praised Jones for showing the gusto to call out one of the deadliest fighter on the UFC roster.
“I will insult Jones on any day of the week, but I will also give him credit where credit is due, and I truly believe that this Francis Ngannou thing is one of the most gangster things in the world. Why would you be afraid of anyone, especially if you’re a guy that has the accomplishments of Jon Jones? That’s the thing I don’t get when people say me or Jon Jones, that we’re afraid of somebody. It’s the most asinine thing in the world. I think that this Jones thing is cool. He’s like, ‘OK, you want to fight? Let’s do it.’ That’s what any person in the world, a true fighter, would do, and I think hats off to Jones.”
If Jones decides to stay back at light heavyweight, he has quite a few options in hand; the likes of Jan Blachowicz, Dominick Reyes and Thiago Santos. However, right now, it seems like Jon Jones is now focused on fighting Ngannou at heavyweight and adding a second title to his collection.