News that Jon Jones had pulled out of UFC 178 next month due to a knee injury came as a major disappointment yesterday, not least to his opponent Daniel Cormier.
The situation is ironic for Cormier given that he postponed knee surgery to fix a partially damaged ACL and torn LCL in order to take the title shot against the light-heavyweight champ, and he feels that Jones should have fought through the pain too.
“I said from the beginning that Jon Jones isn’t afraid of anyone,” Cormier said on ‘America’s PreGame’ on FOX Sports 1 yesterday. “But if I can go in there with a partially torn ACL, I think he should have fought; tough it up and fight.
“I don’t know the extent of his injuries, and if it’s really bad, I’ll take it back. But on the surface, I heard he hurt himself. But people hear ACL, they think you’re out for a year. I’ve been hurt, and I’ve been training. I wish he would have just fought.”
Cormier is trying to look on the positive side though and the fact that their fight has now been pushed back until January 3rd at UFC 182 does have it’s advantages.
“It’s disappointing, but I’m a person that likes to look at the positive, and the positive is that I have a full training camp to get myself and my team together to get ready for a big fight like this.”
As for his own knee, Cormier admitted it had been “pretty jacked up”, but says that with time his LCL has been healing up. His ACL will still require surgery at some point though.
While Jones is taking enough time for his injuries to heal, Cormier will still have issues with his knee in January though, and with the champion having previously vowed to target it in their fight, time will tell whether ‘DC’s’ decision to tough it out through his own injuries will prove to have been a wise strategy or not.
