Former UFC rivals Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier are set to renew their bitter feud as they go head to head for a third time, but as coaches on a reality television show.
Jones and Cormier’s rivalry was one of the most intense in UFC history, built on numerous personal insults, a chaotic brawl, and two in-ring showdowns.
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Jones outpointed his fellow American to retain the light-heavyweight title in 2015, before seemingly dethroning Cormier with a knockout in 2017 – only for the result to be overturned after Jones failed a drug test.
That rematch in fact occurred a year after it was initially due, with the fight collapsing in 2016 due to another failed drug test by Jones.
After Cormier moved to heavyweight and won the title there, he was linked to a trilogy bout with Jones, but the latter only moved up to heavyweight and won the belt after Cormier’s retirement from fighting.
Now, however, Jones and Cormier will finally square off for the third time, but in a different capacity.
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The American duo will be opposing coaches on the new season of the ALF reality TV show, which is due to film in the next couple of months. The news was accompanied by a photograph of Jones, 38, and Cormier, 46, facing off.
Jon Jones (left) in an overturned win over Daniel Cormier in 2017 (Getty)
Jones in fact coached a team on a previous season, with former UFC star Nate Diaz his opposite number, but Jones left the show when a brawl broke out during filming.
Cormier reacted to Monday’s news by hinting he may also face Jones in a wrestling match in the future, saying on YouTube: “I’m telling you, [the promotion] Real American Freestyle Wrestling is gonna see me and Jones at some point.
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“I’m gonna kick his ass like you would never believe, because guess what? I still shoot [takedowns], because I still train wrestlers every single day.”
Cormier has not fought since a title-fight defeat by Stipe Miocic in 2020, while Jones retired last summer and vacated the heavyweight belt in the process. However, “Bones” has since expressed a desire to compete at the UFC’s planned White House event this summer.
