Daniel Cormier revokes Jon Jones' status as UFC Goat due to ‘dirty s***'

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Daniel Cormier revokes Jon Jones' status as UFC Goat due to ‘dirty s***'

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Chris De Santiago | Last updated Feb 8, 2025 1:59 PM ET

A few things hold back Daniel Cormier from hailing Jon Jones as the greatest fighter of all time.

The numbers don't lie, what the former UFC light heavyweight and current UFC heavyweight champion has done is far greater than many champions combined, from multiple title defenses and reigns to a near-undefeated record after 30 fights.

Jones' long list of opponents includes Daniel Cormier, another champion with an all-time resume and his own storied history with "Bones" as Jones' greatest rival.

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A lot was made of the back-and-forth between Jones and Cormier. The fighters took things to a personal level, especially after Jones tested positive for a banned substance in 2016 and forced their rematch to be rescheduled for UFC 214 the following year.

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Jones TKO'ed Cormier in their second fight, but not with controversy, the result being overturned after one of Jones' drug tests came back positive for an anabolic steroid.

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Cormier On If Jon Jones Can Be The GOAT

Years after serving time for a doping suspension and Jones now on top of the heavyweight division, there's still many questions as to how great Jones can actually be if performance-enhancing drugs had helped him prior in his career.

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"You guys always [ask] that and honestly, you really can't deny his greatness," Cormier said during a UFC 312 Q&A, when asked if Jones was the GOAT. "Look at what he's done. The guy has now fought, he really has fought through three generations of fighters. He fought that early generation with [Lyoto] Machida and them, he went through my generation and now he's fighting a whole 'nother generation of guys."

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The Asterisk On Jones' Greatness

Cormier believes Jones to be among the top of the heap when it comes to the greatest of all time, though not the very top given what his former foe has done outside of the Octagon— whether that's a history of drug tests or arrests over the years.

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"So yeah, of course he's one of the greatest fighters of all time. But when you do dirty s***, you don't get to be called the greatest of all time."