Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier have a long and storied rivalry, the kind of unique relationship you only get when a bout between the two has been booked four times with only one actual fight coming out of it all (two if you count their press conference brawl). That fight ended with Jones taking a decision win over Cormier in 2015. The fifth booking is set for UFC 214 on July 29th, and barring an injury or freak Jon Jones incident, the two will fight for the second time.
This time Cormier is the champion and Jones is the challenger. Jones never lost his belt in the cage. Rather, he had it stripped following a hit and run incident in that saw him flee on foot into the hills of Albuquerque, leaving a car full of weed and condoms behind. Upon his return he won an interim light heavyweight belt, but found himself stripped again after testing positive for hydroxy-clomiphene and Letrozole metabolites. The positive drug test derailed the last UFC attempt to put Jones and Cormier back in the cage against each other at UFC 200.
This latest promotional video for UFC 214 captures it all and more. It follows Jon Jones from his earliest days in the UFC as a humble God-fearing kid to the dominant hard partying champion, documenting his many brushes with the law and public disgraces. It captures the animosity Jones and Cormier feel for each other and how their rivalry goes far beyond your typical sports feud. It makes us excited for a fight that has been put together and fallen apart more than any other match up in UFC history.
On July 29th, Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones will finally face each other again. Is Jon Jones still the man he was the last time they met? Or has his time away from the cage dealing with his demons left him just a bit slower and less deadly than before? It’s an exciting question, one we’re looking forward to having answered. Let’s just hope nothing crazy happens in the next couple of weeks to derail it.
