Daniel Cormier criticizes Jon Jones for refusing to face Tom Aspinall: 'If you're the greatest, you go fight him'

12/06/2025 22:00

Daniel Cormier knows what he would do if he was in Jon Jones' shoes.

"DC" recently ended up in his longtime rival's crosshairs once again as Jones went on a Twitter storm in response to public criticism for not fighting UFC interim champion Tom Aspinall. Jones is currently recognized as the promotion's undisputed heavyweight champion, but has long denied any interest in a unification bout with Aspinall, currently ranked No. 1 in the division by MMA Fighting.

In their role as ESPN personalities and podcasters, Cormier and fellow MMA veteran Chael Sonnen have frequently criticized Jones for avoiding the Aspinall fight, which prompted Jones to tweet, "Jon Jones whooped both of y'all, but hey—why not team up on a podcast and gossip about his life? Meanwhile, he's out here making your annual salary in a week. Stay busy, boys."

Now, Cormier is firing back.

"All this other stuff that's going on around the fight, you're talking about, you're talking about Francis [Ngannou], you're talking about Chael," Cormier said on his YouTube channel. "You're talking about all these things and almost ignoring the right thing. The right thing is to go fight this kid and if you beat him, which is a real thing and a real likely scenario, you can then stick it to everybody like you've done on so many different occasions and tell them about it. Nothing feels better to a guy like Jon Jones than to be able to beat the guy that you thought was going to get him and then going, 'What did I say to you?' It's sweeter than any title or anything else you can give this man. But he's got to be willing to take that chance to go and fight this dude.

"We fought them all," Cormier added. "I can tell you guys on good authority, if I was still fighting today and I was still the heavyweight champion and Tom Aspinall was the No. 1 contender, I would have already fought him. One thousand percent. The mindset that I carried through my fight career, knowing how dangerous, it would have done nothing but excite me to see someone standing across the octagon that could potentially beat me or knock my ass out. That would have made me train harder, smarter, and be more prepared than I ever could have been. That's what that would have done to me. What it's doing to Jon Jones is very disturbing and it's very hard for me to understand because in my mind this guy's a fighter because I've seen him do it time and time again."

Cormier took particular umbrage with Jones boasting about his affluence and seemingly downplaying Cormier and Sonnen's financial situations.

According to Cormier, he recently had the chance to coach opposite Jones on a reality show—Nate Diaz would later take the spot alongside Jones only to abruptly leave the show following a chaotic melee—and he knows how much Jones was likely paid for his trip to Thailand to film. That's why he can confidently question Jones' money boasts.

"I know what Jon Jones made in Thailand," Cormier said. "I was offered to coach this show with Jon Jones in Thailand. Jon Jones' résumé is impeccable. Jon Jones' résumé matches up if not exceeds everyone in the business. Jon Jones' star power, his ability to sell, matches up with anybody in the business. Jon Jones and his ability to bring eyes matches up with anybody in the business outside of Conor McGregor.

"But guess what? Daniel Cormier's résumé matches up with anybody in the business. Daniel Cormier brings eyes like people in the business. Daniel Cormier can do and get just about whatever. And I'm talking like Jon Jones now, he's got me talking in third-person. So all of that is true. So when they come to me and say, 'Hey, I would like you to coach this show opposite Jon Jones' knowing the history, they have to come with a nice offer that would peak my interest. Let's say I turned that down. If that money was more than I make in a year, in a week, with the jobs that I do, wouldn't I have jumped at that opportunity? Nothing would have stopped me from going to get that opportunity. Jon Jones don't make more money than me in a week. Jon Jones makes more money than me when he fights. That's it."

Like many fans, Cormier isn't even calling Jones out for being scared as he believes the light heavyweight GOAT and all-time pound-for-pound great has an excellent chance of defeating Aspinall. And it's only right that Jones gives Aspinall the chance to prove otherwise.

"There's always a moment where the new breed kind of comes in and they surpass the old breed," Cormier said. "Jon Jones knows that better than anybody. He has surpassed the new breed and the old breed multiple times over the course of his career and his run as world champion. He's one of the greatest champions of all time. He's beaten everybody.

"He went through the old guard. Meaning, he went through Vitor [Belfort], he went through [Mauricio] 'Shogun' [Rua], he went through [Quinton] 'Rampage' [Jackson]. He literally put all those guys in the rear view. And then he moved on and he hit Rashad [Evans]. And then he hit [Alexander] Gustafsson, who was a new guy. And then he hit me, who was a new guy. Then he hit Anthony Smith, who was a new guy, and Thiago Santos, and Dominick Reyes. He hit them all. He put everybody back. Then he goes to heavyweight, beat Ciryl [Gane]. Then he went and put the old guard back with Stipe [Miocic]. He's beaten all of them. He's been constantly pushing back that next wave of challenger, but there's one more wave, because no matter how many times you've done it before, there's a real possibility that at some point it catches up to you. Nobody gets out of this thing clean. ... Jones has gotten through this thing clean longer than most people could ever imagine getting through this thing clean. But at the end of the day, there's another young, up-and-coming guy that deserves—Tom deserves an opportunity to fight the greatest. If you're the greatest, you go fight him. That's how it works."