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SPORTS Saturday 29 July 2017

Daniel Cormier’s rivalry with Jon Jones peaks at UFC 214

By GREG BEACHAM tration with an enemy who with a late-blooming MMA
AP Sports Writer could have been a friend. career and a stable family
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — “I’ve allowed myself to let existence in the Bay Area.
Daniel Cormier recognizes go of that thought: ‘Why “I can almost sympathize
the cosmic paradox at the am I so disappointed in with Jon more today than
bottom of his bitter rivalry him?’” Cormier said during I did before,” Cormier said.
with Jon Jones. a recent lunch break from “Because I see all the traps,
If anybody in the world his other job as an MMA the excess — from girls to
could relate to the exact analyst for Fox. “Why was new friends. There’s just so
pressures and pitfalls faced I so upset when he was much available to you that
by Jones over the past sev- throwing everything away? you don’t really want to
eral years as a wildly suc- It shouldn’t matter to me. be involved with. But I got
cessful mixed martial art- When I was finally able to it as a 36-year-old man. He
ist, Cormier would be that let that go, it freed me.” was a 23-year-old kid, and
man. The most anticipated MMA then it just became a part
If any fighter could teach matchup of the summer of who he was. You’ve got In this April 23, 2016, file photo, Jon Jones, right, kicks Ovince
Jones about the persever- is the headline bout on a to avoid those traps. I live in Saint Preux during an interim light heavyweight championship
ance and steadiness nec- stacked card, but Corm- what’s important. My fam- mixed martial arts bout at UFC 197 in Las Vegas.
essary to forge a successful ier is unable to take much ily, my training, my jobs.” Associated Press
career with something be- satisfaction in this lucrative When Jones blew his title
sides spectacular athletic pinnacle of his career. The shot and received a year- geles, a shirtless, chiseled “I know what I’ve got to
talent, it would be the man decisive loss to Jones in long suspension last year, Jones glowered at the do,” Cormier said. “We fi-
standing across from Jones January 2015 remains the he also cost Cormier a great smaller, suit-wearing cham- nally have to have this mo-
in the UFC 214 cage on Sat- only blemish on Cormier’s deal of money by forcing pion. ment. It’s time.”q
urday night. record, and he has reigned their bout’s cancellation.
“If we weren’t what we are atop the 205-pound divi- Anderson Silva agreed to
today, there are a lot of sion for two years since be a late replacement,
things that I could give to Jones’ title was stripped a and Cormier did the only
him, to help him be a better few months afterward. thing he could against one
version of himself,” Cormier Jones’ misdeeds are almost of his heroes: He pinned the
said with a rueful laugh. too long to list at this point, Spider to the mat for most
Instead, Cormier and even when limited just to of their three rounds, earn-
Jones are locked in one the trouble since 2014. He ing an easy victory and
of the greatest rivalries in had a positive test for co- boos from fans who have
MMA history, one featuring caine use around the time embraced Jones’ antihero
street-clothes scuffles, epic of their first bout, followed ethos more than Cormier’s
trash-talking and a pointed by an embarrassing hit- good-guy life.
animosity that can only and-run accident in which “I didn’t get here being stu-
grow out of familiarity. a pregnant woman’s arm pid,” Cormier said. “There
More than 2 1/2 years after was broken, followed by was no way to win in that
Jones beat Cormier to de- another failed drug test re- situation, but I had to take
fend the light heavyweight vealed shortly before their the criticism for it.”
title, Cormier is the cham- scheduled rematch at UFC Cormier finally has a way
pion heading into their re- 200 and blamed on an to win this Saturday, but
match at Honda Center in erectile dysfunction medi- he is an underdog. Jones
Anaheim, California. cation. still is widely considered
Cormier (19-1) realizes he Cormier has lampooned the greatest fighter in the
needs a victory over his and criticized Jones with world, and he appears to
self-sabotaging archrival to each mistake, but only be- be focused on regaining
validate his own title reign cause he sees Jones mak- his belt.
— and any empathetic ing the mistakes that he has Their animosity hasn’t
thoughts about Jones (22- avoided. While Jones lives cooled, either. At their cer-
1) have been drowned out his madcap life, Cormier is emonial faceoff Wednes-
by years of anger and frus- a former Olympic wrestler day in downtown Los An-