Jon Jones' former arch-rival makes feelings known about surprise UFC retirement: "I will go to my grave believing he quit"

Jon Jones’ retirement from UFC leaves behind some unanswered questions. After weeks of speculation, the UFC officially declared Tom Aspinall the new heavyweight champion. The announcement came swiftly after Jones informed the promotion of his retirement.

While this marks the close of an era, for one of his fiercest former rivals, it doesn’t feel like closure. In a YouTube video laced with disappointment, Daniel Cormier claimed that he believes Jones stepped away to avoid the Aspinall fight entirely.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Cormier said:

“I will go to my grave believing he quit instead of fighting that guy [Aspinall]... I normally would wait till the morning guys but I needed to get this out tonight. I'll have more on Good Guy/ Bad Guy on Monday but it's official. Jon Jones is done. I don't know if this is tactics by the UFC. I don't know that this is frustrations with Jon Jones.

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Meanwhile, Jones is also facing a misdemeanor charge for allegedly fleeing the scene of a car accident in February. With all that in mind, Cormier added:

"I don't know what this is. Does it feel like the end completely? I hope it does. Because if he cares about his legacy he doesn't want to be sitting there beating up on guys that may get past Tom Aspinall. They gave him the money. They agreed to everything. And he still just would not do it. I'm going to bed. I'm tired... It was crazy when Dana [White] said that. But thank you guys for the support. I appreciate it."

Check out Daniel Cormier's comments below (12:45):

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Daniel Cormier explains why he still respects Jon Jones

Daniel Cormier didn’t hold back in calling out Jon Jones' actions after he retired from the UFC. Cormier called out Jones for walking away from the sport without settling the ducking allegations in potential fight against Tom Aspinall.

Their rematch at UFC 214 remains one of the toughest moments of Cormier's career. He admits that even at his absolute peak, he could not beat Jones.

Speaking in the aforementioned video on his YouTube channel, Cormier said:

“Everything else aside, all the stuff outside of the octagon, he won every time that he was put in a fight with a man, one-on-one, and he beat me in Anaheim. I can tell you this without question. I beat Stipe Miocic, I became the Strikeforce heavyweight champion, UFC light heavyweight champion. I was never better than that time in Anaheim. That was the best I’ve ever been, and he beat me and because of that, I will always respect him for his skills and what he did inside the octagon."

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Edited by Abhishek Nambiar