Dana White Admits Concern Over Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones at UFC 214 Press Conference

Some rivalries in mixed martial arts are built on promotion just to hype up a fight but that’s certainly not the case when it comes to Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones.

The two top light heavyweights in the sport have engaged in one of the most bitter rivalries in the history of the sport but there’s nothing fake about how much Cormier and Jones dislike each other.

If the brawl that broke out between Cormier and Jones in 2014 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas wasn’t evidence enough, UFC president Dana White revealed on Tuesday that he had actually planned to skip the scheduled UFC 214 pre-fight press conference but got a little worried that things might get out of hand.

Considering the last time Jones and Cormier were in a room together, the current light heavyweight champion tossed a bottle of water at him before they were eventually separated by security, White just couldn’t take any chances on allowing anyone else to handle the press conference on Wednesday.

“What’s crazy is I don’t know if I’ve ever been busier than I am now, which is ridiculous, I never thought I’d be saying that. Who thought I’d be busier than I was before. I wasn’t going to go to the press conference on Wednesday. The only reason I’m going to the press conference on Wednesday is I want to be there in case stuff goes down, to make sure that it doesn’t,” White said when speaking to ESPN.

White has seen fighters exchange words before a fight and sometimes it even gets physical but ultimately the two sides bury the hatchet when the competition is finished.

That’s not even close to the case when it comes to Cormier and Jones, who absolutely cannot stand each other much less can they be trusted to be in the same room together without some sort of potential drama ready to explode.

“They can’t stand each other,” White said about Cormier and Jones. “They don’t respect each other. It doesn’t get any more real that these two. Two of the best to ever do it, hate each other and both not want to win but have to win, can’t lose to each other type guys.”

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