Daniel Cormier Vs Jon Jones Beef

Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier: Consummate Timeline of Their Beefiness

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Jon Jones USA TODAY Sports

You might think it all started in August, when that little stage gasped under the anger of the planet'due south 2 baddest light heavyweights, one steaming toward the other, with but a goggle-eyed PR rep and the restrictions of civilian clothing holding them back.

But the history of this beefiness betwixt Jon Jones, the champion, and Daniel Cormier, the undefeated challenger, runs much deeper. Information technology's personal, it's physical, it'south emotional.

MMA fans, casual and otherwise, are on a razor's edge equally they wait for these two to mix it up this Saturday atUFC 182, for real and in the cage and with null much in place this time to terminate the violence.

If yous're non stoked for this i, you're not paying much attention. Let me assist you with that. Here's a full timeline of the history between these two, chronologically displayed in six easy slides.

A Bad 1st Impression

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Daniel Cormier JEYHUN ABDULLA/Associated Press

To witness the origin of this enmity, allow us travel back in fourth dimension, all the way back to 2010. The Snuggie dominated the fashion mural with a bluish fist of iron. Jackass 3-D carried u.s.a. to the very limits of our imaginations. And Lady Gaga caught usa all in a "Bad Romance."

And Brock Lesnar, the in one case-unbeatable heavyweight champion, lost his chugalug to a young man named Cain Velasquez at UFC 121. Backstage at that issue is where we lay our scene.

It is there that a immature Jon Jones, then a phenom of the sport just non yet a champion, met Daniel Cormier, a erstwhile Olympic wrestler who had just made his first big argument in major league MMA with a 62-second, tap-to-strikes victory over Jason Riley in the Strikeforce promotion.

Some time later, Jones offered his rendition of the meeting to broadcaster Ariel Helwani (transcription h/t Encarmine Elbow):

The whole story behind me and him is just so featherbrained. I met him, and I came up to him with a big smile on my face. He's another black guy in the sport, and I felt the need to say hello to him, and I was just like 'hey man, I hear you're a corking wrestler' and all this stuff, and he's similar 'Yeah, yeah, yous don't know who I am?' I'thousand similar 'No I don't know who you are, but my coaches were telling me that you wrestle on the Olympic level.' And I was like 'I bet y'all that I could take you down.'

It was my way of trying to develop a new friendship, and he but took it so seriously, and he was only so offended that I didn't know who he was, and from that moment on he decided that there was a beef between u.s.a.. I was just trying to reach out to him at that moment, and he just decided that there wouldn't be a friendship between united states.

It'due south cool by me. If this guy has some kind of personal vendetta or chose to accept a beef with me it'due south fine. It but kind of sucks considering both of usa beingness African-American guys in the sport I think we should get along and respect each other, only that'southward not the instance.

Though Cormier remembers the same exchange, not surprisingly, his interpretation is a little different. Hither's his description from an interview with ESPN:

I didn't expect Jon Jones to know who I was every bit an Olympian. I don't expect Jon Jones to know any wrestlers. He was the guy that was coming up to be the UFC champion. What I said was, 'How practice you break the ice past insulting someone?' That's the only problem I had. It was the first time he and I ever interacted. He walked up to me, a very tall individual. He looked down on me and started to make derogatory comments towards me, talking about how he could accept me down easy and stuff...Y'all don't even know who I am, guy!

Honestly? This feels like a misunderstanding that spiraled out of control. Jones, perhaps trying as well hard to brand a good impression (and this wouldn't be the outset time), said something to which Cormier, perhaps reacting with excess sensitivity, took offense. Equally an alternative theory, perhaps Jones was only being a jerk and is now trying to embrace his tracks.

The Fight Is On

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Alexander Gustafsson United states TODAY Sports

Fast-forward three years. Now a champion, Jones' life had settled—stagnated, if you prefer—into a fleck of a routine. The ritual went fight, dominate, repeat.

That was until a immature man named Alexander Gustafsson stepped in against Jones in September 2013 at a lilliputian issue called UFC 165. They waged the best fight of the year, with Jones taking unprecedented penalisation before ultimately snatching a unanimous (but close) win.

Why is this fight of import for the Jones-Cormier timeline? I'll tell you. Run across, the championship fight at UFC 178 originally did non involve Daniel Cormier. Information technology involved Gustafsson.

But when Gustafsson tore his meniscus, Cormier was only as well happy to fill in. Only like that, the latent, somewhat ambiguous feud causeless a good deal more rigidity.

Gustafsson indirectly opened the door to the grudge friction match, cheers to his injury. But more importantly, he opened the door to this epic master event. In hammering and almost upsetting Jones at UFC 165, Gustafsson leveled the playing field just enough so that it could now solidly back up a real rivalry. Gustafsson proved that, on the wrong night and confronting the wrong opponent, the slap-up Jon Jones was beatable.

The Large Row

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Though it started in 2010, it hit its turning point just concluding August.

Information technology was August 4, to be exact, during a media event to hype UFC 178, the outcome at which the two were originally scheduled to chip (more on that in a second). Jones and Cormier posed for a faceoff. The event was nothing big at first, only some other staredown for some other banking concern of cameras.

Merely then something went amiss.

They're tense, these staredowns, and sometimes that tension boils over. At that place'due south a spark, seen or unseen. In the case of Jones and Cormier, the spark was quite visible, as Jones and Cormier touched—yous might say butted—heads as they stood nose-to-nose.

Cormier shoved Jones in the throat. Jones reacted with a punch that missed. He and so drove forwards for a takedown attempt, the momentum of which carried them both off the stage, where they tussled until security pulled them autonomously.

No one was seriously hurt in the fracas, but it nonetheless stirred up even more bad blood (not to mention headlines). The feud was in the mainstream at present.

Hot Mics Add More Rut

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The verbal sparring connected, and the fire was fueled ever college.

There was this ESPN substitution in Baronial, which came after the cameras (supposedly) stopped rolling. (Bank check the the NSFW video if you want.)

Let us now accept in a portion of the brilliant exchange that transpired:

Jones: "Hey p---y, are you lot still at that place?"

Cormier: "I'm here, I'one thousand here. You are just the fakest person. I actually admire that you can actually be this false, and similar, when the Television receiver comes on, how you can simply modify. Information technology's similar you're a chameleon. It's awesome."

(A few moments after)

Cormier: "I wish they would permit me adjacent door so I could spit in your f-----g confront."

Jones: "You know I would absolutely kill you if you ever did something like that, correct?"

Cormier: "You lot could never kill me."

Jones: "Oh, I bet you I could."

Cormier: "Then yous should try, Jon. You really should try, Jon."

Jones: "I would literally impale y'all if y'all spit in my face."

Cormier: "Yep, let'due south try that, Jon."

Jones: "Literally impale y'all."

Cormier: "Let's try that, Jon."

There'south more than, both in that detail video and elsewhere. In the wake of the brawl on media day, at that place was this exchange on Play tricks Sports 1. There was besides Jones' rather antagonistic appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Yeah...these two don't like each other.

Jon Jones Injured, Fight Postponed

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Aaron Sugariness/Getty Images

On August 12, it was appear that Jones had torn a meniscus during grooming. The same injury that had forced Gustafsson out of the original competition now forced Jones out of his grudge match with Cormier.

The tour was rescheduled for UFC 182, and at the time, Jan. 3 might as well have been 2025.

The filibuster caused the war of words to cool, simply luckily for fans, it did warm up over again. In fact, it may have served every bit an additional incubation period, allowing the feud to putrefy that much longer.

The Fallout Hits the Wallets

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United states TODAY Sports

In late September, the Nevada Country Athletic Commission unanimously voted to subject area both fighters for their roles in the August brawl.

Jones received a $50,000 fine and 40 hours of community service. Cormier was hit with a $9,000 penalty and ordered to complete 20 hours of community service.

During the commission hearing in which those punishments were decided, Jones testified to a loss that was far more than pregnant than annihilation Nevada officials could dish out.

As a result of the row, Nike ended its endorsement relationship with Jones. The arrangement was not only a landmark deal for Squad Jones but also toll the champ "six figures" of income.

To paraphrase the saying, now this rivalry was messing with their money. With that, the final bending of animosity was covered, and perhaps the biggest feud in UFC history was cemented.

It's been simmering ever since, leaking out in interviews here and in that location. As fight calendar week ramps upwardly, anyone listening will surely see and hear plenty more.

It all culminates at UFC 182. Provided, of form, that they can brand it past the weigh-ins.


Scott Harris covers both the serious and less serious aspects of MMA for Bleacher Written report. For more stuff like this, follow Scott on Twitter.

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Source: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2311515-jon-jones-vs-daniel-cormier-complete-timeline-of-their-beef

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