Don’t expect Jon Jones to take Daniel Cormier up on his challenge anytime soon. In a social media clip posted over the weekend, when asked about Cormier’s offer to wrestle him in an RAF match, Jones can be heard stating that he has “severe arthritis” in his left hip and already qualifies for a hip replacement
In the same clip, Jones adds that he suffered immense pain from the arthritis in his “last training camp,” presumably his November 2024 defense of the UFC heavyweight title against a then 42-year-old Stipe Miocic.
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Said Jones:
“I have severe arthritis, and most people don’t know that. My left hip is covered in arthritis. I actually already qualify for a hip replacement. My last training camp, dude, I went to bed in so much pain.
“I have a 3-year-old baby boy, and I want to use what I got left in my hips to play with his ass.”
Of course, the rivalry between Jones and Cormier is one of the fiercest in MMA history. Both men are multi-division UFC champions and among the most dominant fighters to ever compete. Jones and Cormier fought each other twice for the UFC light heavyweight championship, with Jones winning the first bout in 2015 by unanimous decision. They met again in 2017 in an infamous rematch that saw Jones initially win again by third-round knockout, only for the result to be overturned into a no-contest after Jones tested positive for banned substances — one of several failed drug tests in Jones’ career.
Cormier retired in 2020 and entered into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2022, while Jones retired in 2025 but quickly reversed course on that decision in order to pursue a matchup against Alex Pereira at the UFC’s upcoming White House event in June. The two rivals recently coached against one another on a season of “ALF Global Reality,” a Russian MMA program akin to “The Ultimate Fighter,” renewing tensions.
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Jones dismissed Cormier as an “a**hole and a d***head” in an interview following the taping of the show, stating that Cormier “made it very clear that he wants to be enemies for the rest of his life.” In response, Cormier told Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” that he does indeed have no desire to ever be friends with Jones, though he did express interest in meeting Jones in a trilogy match of sorts, either in the boxing ring or on the RAF wrestling mats.
“I don’t know that he’s willing to allow me to embarrass him in a wrestling match,” Cormier told Uncrowned. “I don’t want to wrestle, [but] I would wrestle Jon Jones. … If Jon Jones wants to wrestle, then yeah, I’ll go wrestle Jon Jones. … I’m not fighting [in MMA], man. No. Look at my face, dude — look at all this gray. I’m not fighting. I would box him, but I’m not fighting. Why not? I’d box his face up.
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“Wrestling match would be preferable. [I beat him] 10-0, easy. Bro, I am an Olympian. We’re going to get in a wrestling stance and wrestle with shoes on? 10-0 all day.”
Alas, it appears Jones vs. Cormier 3 won’t be taking place in any venue anytime soon.
