Daniel Cormier: Champ’s Reaction To Jon Jones News Is Heartbreaking [Video]
Daniel Cormier was more fired up than he’d ever been heading into Saturday’s UFC 200.
He was the recognized champion and one half of the main event heading into the MMA promotion’s biggest show.
But as everyone found out late Wednesday, his opponent, Jon Jones, had something “positive” in his drug testing done back in June. Jones claimed innocence, but with his track record and no time to get a retest before the big night, UFC President Dana White was forced to cancel the fight.
Many of those who know the often volatile White wondered how he was going to take the news. Turns out, he took it pretty well.
While clearly disappointed, White overcame the pressure caused by Jones failed drug test and found a replacement for Daniel Cormier to fight: MMA legend Anderson Silva. Cormier has since thanked Dana and Anderson for stepping up to take the fight, but having the bout canceled was still a massive disappointment — something readily apparent on the latest UFC 200 Embedded.
The great thing about UFC’s popular web video series is that it harnesses hours and hours of video footage to capture unexpected moments, like this one, as they happen.
The cameras were rolling shortly after White found out that Jones was out, and they captured a heartbreaking exchange between the boss and Daniel Cormier.
BREAKING: The fight between Jon Jones & Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 is off due to potential doping violation by Jones. pic.twitter.com/xhHWoaA2TH — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 7, 2016
Cormier, a standout from the days of Strikeforce, has only one blemish on his record — a unanimous decision loss to Jones prior to the disgraced interim champ’s legal troubles at UFC 182.
Daniel has been wanting to correct that loss since it happened, and it doesn’t help that the bad blood between him and Jones is still there.
Daniel Cormier trained hard for this fight, and from interviews with him leading up to their contentious press conference, it was clear that he saw this fight as more than just a title defense.
It was personal and something that he’d poured months of his soul into training for.
When White drops the bombshell on him at about the 4:14 mark of this video, it’s plain to see that the question everyone should have been asking wasn’t “How’s Dana taking it?,” but “How’s Daniel Cormier taking it?”
“Like is there anything I can do?” Daniel asks in desperation. “I’ll sign a release, and we can just fight.”
To that, White simply says, “Can’t do it” and gives Cormier a hug before walking away.
At this point, the tears are flowing and the champ says to himself, “Put a lot into this.”
While Anderson Silva is a pretty big consolation prize, it’s an extremely disheartening thing for a competitor like Daniel Cormier to amp himself up in an effort to avenge his sole loss only to have the rug pulled out from under him.
One thing that Cormier did do is distinguish himself as the true champion of UFC’s light heavyweight division with his reaction and the class with which he has handled the fallout.
While Jones is still for all practical purposes unbeaten — his only loss was from a DQ for using illegal elbows that left his opponent unconscious — Cormier’s willingness to play by the rules and take on all comers has effectively wrested the belt from Jones’ waist without ever having to actually beat him.
At this point, the Daniel Cormier fight is no longer a main event, but with the way he has represented the company, it won’t be surprising to see him turn up in several more main events over the years.
Do you think Daniel Cormier would have beaten Jon Jones? Should the bout be allowed to happen unsanctioned as Cormier wanted? Sound off in the comments section.
[Image via UFC]
