After knocking out Daniel Cormier in the third round of their grudge match at UFC 214, Jon Jones did something unexpected: he complimented Cormier, calling the former champion “an amazing human being” and “a true champion.” It was quite the turn of events considering the vitriolic years that had preceded their fight which included, among many other things, Jones threatening to kill Cormier at one point. But it seems that now that the rivalry with Cormier is over, Jones wants to extend an olive branch and put all the animosity behind them too.

Speaking recently on the Sway In The Morning show, Jones said that he hopes he and Cormier can move beyond their differences in part because he feels they should be supporting each other instead of tearing each other down.

“I’d like to be cool with him. Especially being a young black man, there’s not too many black men in the sport so I think that it’s sad when we’re at each other’s throats. If anything, we should be rallying around each other, supporting each other, and lifting each other up.

“So I would like to eventually get to a place where we can support each other, do charity events together, do an interview together and talk about our beef. The same way Mike Tyson and [Evander] Holyfield came together years later and talked about the matches they had, I would love to be able to do something with Daniel Cormier. I think people would like to see us mend things.”

But getting to such a point may take some time. It’s easier to put bygones aside when you are the winner in the end and Jones acknowledges that, saying about the bad things Cormier directed at him, “It doesn’t matter what he said because I won the fight.” But for Cormier, that peace might be harder. Cormier was devastated after the loss, crying in the cage immediately afterwards and saying that if he never beat Jones, it can’t really be considered a rivalry. After all, even Jones, who said before the fight that he wanted to make Cormier cry again, says he had a hard time watching Cormier cry.

“It was tough to watch him cry though because he’s such a good ambassador of our sport and I feel those one-on-one sports like MMA, boxing, these are sports where you see grown men cry because your success is all on your shoulders, whereas on a basketball team or football team you can blame it on the other guys out there with you. You can say, I gave it my all but my team was off that day. But in MMA, it’s all you out there and it’s such a person thing when you’re defeated. The legacy and everything, they’re not talking about your team, they’re talking about you forever. So the way men get attached to this sport, it’s a beautiful thing and it just shows how much this means to him.”

Whether they’ll ever become friends is certainly up for debate - for every Holyfield and Tyson there is an Ali-Frazier - but the two will certainly have plenty of opportunities to work things out. Cormier is still one of the premier analysts in the game and Jones is the best fighter in the world with what looks like many years still ahead of him.

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VIDEO STEW

Coach Roddy got some BTS stuff with Conor.

Floyd ain’t the best of this era tho...

Paulie getting more press than he ever did during his career.

Free Bellator fight.

Including in this highlight is the brutal ground strike that Bowles KO’d Torres with to take the WEC title 8 years ago today.

LISTEN UP

Beatdown. UFC Mexico City Recap and other conversations.

Believe You Me. Bisping details getting burgled multiple times.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Call out.

Hell of a knee.

Very interesting.

. @TheNotoriousMMA need another sparring partner to test your skills against? ................... — Hi-Tech Lomachenko (@VasylLomachenko) August 8, 2017

Solid plan.

It's crossed my mind https://t.co/xlnbywH1y2 — Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) August 9, 2017

At this point, no one should believe this will happen until after the decision is read out.

MSG Sounds Nice To Me. Get Ready For An Ass Whoopin' @TeamKhabib #TonyFergusonMMA #SnapDownCity — Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) August 5, 2017

Hey Fathead @TeamKhabib It's #TiramisuTuesday Make Sure To Eat Three 4 Me. I Hope USADA Doesn't Test For Tiramisu,Tell Em Its Therapudic Use pic.twitter.com/IDpwkVBqco — Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) August 9, 2017

I'm waiting for you in New York

just take this fight, everybody waiting your decision — khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) August 9, 2017

Your MGR @aliabdelaziz00 Informed @ufc U Are Not Well Enough To Fight Me At MSG, Turned Down The Fight On Your Behalf. Don't Fool Your Fans https://t.co/Z6yKrgJTTf — Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) August 9, 2017

Beef.

Nik lentz knows he can't beat me so he's texting guys at ATT saying they aren't friends anymore if they help me get ready for the fight — Will Brooks (@ILLxWillBrooks) August 9, 2017

what kind of soft cupcake stuff is that? He left ATT after throwing a temper tantrum like a child now he wants say so in what goes on here? — Will Brooks (@ILLxWillBrooks) August 9, 2017

Just stay in your lane dick riding Trump and focus on your political crusade. — Will Brooks (@ILLxWillBrooks) August 9, 2017

A tale in two tweets.

All this hate.. But why? It's not my fault @TWooodley has more skeletons in his closet than @warmachine170 — Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) August 1, 2017

People only bring up your past when they are intimidated about your present and future. — Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) August 9, 2017

Snoop getting the love.

Maybe doing that while mounted isn’t the best idea.

Vyacheslav Vasilevsky def. Luis Sergio Melo Junior by 2R TKO – HL

(PLOTFORMA S-70 ) pic.twitter.com/mTyGAvELFV — Jolassanda (@Jolassanda) August 8, 2017

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

N/A.

TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

2008: Georges St-Pierre won a unanimous decision over Jon Fitch to retain his UFC welterweight championship at UFC 87. In the co-main event, Brock Lesnar earned his first UFC win, taking a unanimous decision over Heath Herring. And on the undercard, Jon Jones made his UFC debut, winning a unanimous decision over Andre Gusmao.

2009: Brian Bowles knocked out Miguel Torres at WEC 42 to claim the WEC bantamweight title.

FINAL THOUGHTS

17 days.

Take it easy and see y’all tomorrow.

If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, just hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram, add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting, and like us on Facebook.