Cormier responded to Jones, “You can’t rewrite history”

“People are trying to rewrite history, but you can’t do that,” Cormier said in a video posted on his Youtube channel. “He failed testing multiple times and you can’t rewrite history – it’s like baseball had the steroid era and none of those guys ever made it into the Hall of Fame. Are we going to remember 2015 through 2023 as the USADA era? Especially if all of a sudden some mediocre fighter becomes an absolute superstar after USADA leaves?”

“So let me say this – you can’t rewrite history. You can’t just say – it was wrong, it has to be fixed. That’s the reason we could never come to a consensus with John, because sometimes you can just say whatever you want to say. I once said on TV that I could throw a ball 90 miles an hour. When I actually tried to do it, it was 65 mph and my shoulder was sore for days. But the reality is, I could just say that. You can just say what you want to say, and it doesn’t always have to be true.”

Jon Jones has fought Daniel Cormier twice, beating him by unanimous decision at UFC 182 in Las Vegas in 2015 and knocking out his principal opponent two years later at UFC 214 in Anaheim. After failing a doping test prior to the rematch, Jones was stripped of his second win as the fight was ruled a no contest.

In total, Jon Jones failed doping tests three times – once for estrogen blockers, and twice for turinabol, serving one-year and fifteen-month suspensions. The last failed test for turinabol was not the reason for the suspension, as it was concluded to be a trace of an old drug.

Jon Jones is currently preparing for his heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic, whom he will face on November 11 at UFC 295 in New York City, while Daniel Cormier has ended his career and is working as a commentator at UFC tournaments and as an analyst for ESPN television.