Daniel Cormier har inte sparat på krutet när det kommer till trash talk mot Jon Jones som han möter i returmatchen under UFC 214, då han vid flera tillfällen har gett den före detta mästaren pikar om användandet av droger.
Enligt Cormier är hans kritik befogad och han tror att drogmissbruket helt enkelt är ett val som Jones har gjort.
Det här berättade Cormier via ’MMAJunkie’:
These things are so public. These instances are so public. If he was doing all this stuff to himself and by himself and not affecting people, I probably wouldn’t say anything. But his indiscretions and mess-ups have greatly influenced my career, too, in the way I’m perceived. A lot of people may say, ‘Well, you would never be the champion if he didn’t do those things.’ Maybe he would’ve beat me again, but we would’ve fought already to decide that.
But even though I am champion, because of the things that he’s done to get in that situation, people never really, truly respect me as they should. Not only are they not respecting me as they should, they’re discrediting everything I have done. So, it’s not off limits.
And my whole thing is this. Some guy said this to me: ‘Daniel, if you knew the struggle, you would never say the things you say.’ And I said, ‘Well, I don’t know the struggle, because I know how dangerous it is. So I don’t mess with it.’
You’re not born with addiction issues. You make the choice to start to mess with that.
Cormier tror även att Jones har fuskat hela sitt liv.
If you’re willing to do that right before a fight, and that’s something that can be detrimental to you going forward, why wouldn’t you do something that could help you? That’s my philosophy. I could be wrong. I do believe that this dude has been cheating his entire life, though. Why not?
Cormier och Jones var tänkta att möta varandra i en returmatch under UFC 200 förra året, men Jones testade sedan positivt endast dagar inför matchen.
UFC 214 äger rum i Anaheim i Kalifornien den 29 juli.
