Jon Jones & Daniel Cormier Explain Brawl At Monday’s Press Conference, Cormier Says Jones Is A ‘Liar’ & ‘Punk’

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The only thing more ridiculous than Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier’s scrap at a media conference earlier in the day were their comments afterwards.

After the UFC 178 main eventers brawled at the MGM Grand earlier in the day, the two appeared on ESPN News to discuss what happened.

It almost seemed like the pair were doing their best impressions of John Cena and Daniel Bryan as both seemed to be playing characters. Jones remained completely calm in offering his recollection of the events while Cormier seemed completely jovial.

Jones barely finished his opening explanation about what had happened when Cormier interrupted him the first time.

“You know what,” Jones said. “First of all, I’d like to give an apology to the MGM Grand, all the fans …”

“It’s so fake!” a laughing Cormier interjected. “It’s so fake!”

Jones continued with his version of Monday afternoon’s events.

“Definitely not proud of what I did today,” Jones said. “But, what happened was, we had a faceoff, and in he UFC, two athletes get very close in the faceoff, our heads touched, our nose rubbed together, it’s a very intimate, very passionate moment for a lot of fighters (Cormier laughs). I’ve never actually had another fight put his hands on me by squeezing my throat. I reacted in self-defense by beating up Daniel.”

Cormier then suddenly got serious about the incident.

“I have actually never heard a fight being described as ‘intimate and passionate,'” Cormier said. “I have no idea what Jonny Jones is talking about. First off, you’re right, people get close to each other. But they don’t put their head against yours and nudge you forward. In my lifetime, I will never, ever allow a man, I don’t care if it is Mike Tyson in his prime, I don’t care if it is Vladimir Klitschko, no one will ever nudge me forward with their head and not expect a reaction. … Jon Jones will never bully me.”

The pair also detailed the history of their feud, which began at the end of a 2010 UFC event in Anaheim when they crossed paths for the first time. Jones reportedly didn’t know who Cormier was.

“I didn’t expect Jon Jones to know who I was as an Olympian,” Cormier said about that 2010 night in Anaheim. “I don’t expect Jon Jones to know any wrestlers. He was the guy who was coming up to be the UFC champion. What I said was, how do you break the ice by insulting someone? That’s the only problem I had. It was the first time he and I ever interacted. He walked up to me, he was a very tall individual. He looked down on me and started to make derogatory comments toward me telling me he can take me down so easy … I’m like you don’t even know who I am, guy? Why would I even start a conversation by being rude? That was the issue between Jon and I.”

Jones responded by taking a shot at Cormier’s wrestling background.

“Daniel Cormier being an Olympic-level wrestler, I thought it would be a lot harder to get him to the floor,” Jones said. “And sure enough if you look at the videos which I’m not very proud of he was the one on his back and people were pulling me off of him.”

The interview ended with Cormier calling the champion more names

“This guy is such a fake human being,” Cormier said. “He’s a fake individual. I don’t care to learn anything about Jon Jones that I don’t know. The whole incident, I don’t care about the incident. I care about Sept. 27, becoming the UFC light heavyweight champion, whatever. He’s weak. He’s a punk, he’s a liar, he’s dishonest. He’s a whole bunch of things that he should not be proud of being.”