Manager shares Jon Jones’ private reaction to Daniel Cormier’s UFC 226 win

UFC light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier’s incredible UFC 226 knockout defeat of Stipe Miocic, which earned him the UFC heavyweight title, generated reactions from a host of MMA stars. One fighter in particular, however, was quite quiet in the immediate fallout of Cormier’s big win: his arch rival, Jon Jones.

In the days since Cormier’s incredible win, Jones has made a few comments on social media, but none have addressed Cormier directly. According to Jones’ manager Malki Kawa, however, Jones had plenty to say behind closed doors.

Kawa shared Jones’ initial reaction during a Monday appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on ESPN.

“His words to me were, ‘good for him, I guess now we can say welcome to the club, he’s actually a champion, he won the heavyweight belt, and no one can take that from him. He’s the heavyweight champion of the world,'” Kawa says Jones told him. “Then he said, ‘Malki, this is the best thing that could ever happen. Now I have the choice of coming back and can kick his ass at light heavyweight or heavyweight.'”

“[Jones] beat the guy twice, he’s not jealous,” Kawa added. “When you beat the guy twice, and the second time was more definitive than the first, Jon looks at it and says, ‘All right great, now I can come back and fight at my choice, heavyweight or light heavyweight.'”

So there you have it. It sounds like Jones was actually quite vocal about Cormier’s win amongst the members of his inner circle.

Here’s what Jones had to say on Twitter, where he was much more vague.

https://twitter.com/JonnyBones/status/1016360309198610433

“Just keep in mind that life is a journey and not a race,” the former champ said in a Monday Tweet. “If it’s in God’s will for me to still be here and healthy, please believe that they’ll be many more fights to come. Let’s not forget I’m still the youngest guy in the top 5 at HW & LHW.”

The update is that I’m alive and well, been enjoying my family this summer and also doing a lot of personal growth work. No clue when I’ll be back in the octagon exactly. But I do believe wholeheartedly that my best days in the UFC are still ahead https://t.co/P8VQGC8R8T

— BONY (@JonnyBones) July 10, 2018

“The update is that I’m alive and well, been enjoying my family this summer and also doing a lot of personal growth work,” Jones added in a second Tweet. “No clue when I’ll be back in the octagon exactly. But I do believe wholeheartedly that my best days in the UFC are still ahead.”

What do you think the future holds for Jon Jones? Do you think we’ll see him fight Daniel Cormier again before all is said and done?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/9/2018.