Daniel Cormier won’t be confident Jon Jones rematch will happen until they’re Octagon

On August 29, in the main event of UFC 214, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will attempt to defend his title against former champion Jon Jones: his fiercest rival and the only man he’s lost to.

On Monday’s edition of the MMA Hour, Cormier recounted the trouble he had getting this rematch booked, but why it was such an important rematch to make happen.

“They offered me the [Jimi] Manuwa fight on July 29 in Anaheim,” he explained. “A week after I fought [Anthony “Rumble” Johnson], Dana [White] called me, I was on my way to Kansas City, Jimi Manuwa was in his office and he goes ‘you versus Manuwa in Anaheim.’ I go ‘ehhh,’ and he goes ‘what’s wrong?’ I go ‘it needs to be Jones. It needs to be Jones, we’ll make it happen.’ And I badgered him. I go ‘tell me he’s ready to go,’ and he goes ‘well, I’m talking to him.’ ‘Tell me he’s going to do it.’ ‘Well, I’m talking to him right now, we’ll get it figured out.’ And after about a week of me badgering him he goes ‘DC calm down, I’m working on it.’ And finally it was Jones. It had to be Jones. I want fights that get me going. Rumble Johnson, it was like, can he really do it to me this time? Can he get one on me and knock me out? That’s the stuff that gets my juices going. Can Jon Jones do what he did last time?”

“I know every time I fight Jones, it’ll get me going.” 

While Cormier is thrilled about his upcoming chance to even the score with Jones, however, he won’t be confident the fight will actually happens till the cage door closes.

“You think that everything’s good, but I mean last time [Jones withdrew] it was like two days before the fight, so I’m not really going to be completely secure until we’re in the Octagon,” he said. “Things can happen at any time. I’m going to be there, so let’s hope that Jon’s there too.”

Who do you think wins the Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones rematch at UFC 214?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/3/2017.