Morning Report: Daniel Cormier says Jon Jones remaining interim champion ‘makes no sense’

In three weeks, it will be one full year since the UFC light heavyweight championship has been on the line.

The last time we saw UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier in the Octagon he was supposed to fight Jon Jones to unify the UFC light heavyweight and interim light heavyweight belts. Instead, Jones was pulled from the event just days before due to a failed USADA test and instead Cormier faced MMA hero and middleweight GOAT, Anderson Silva in a three-round, non-title affair. Since then, the prevailing logic has been that Cormier’s next fight will be a title defense against Anthony Johnson in a rematch of their May 2015 fight.

Then, the story took a turn. Jones – who is under temporary suspension for testing positive for Hydroxy-clomiphene, an anti-estrogenic agent, and a Letrozole metabolite, an aromatase inhibitor – has been suggesting that investigations before his appeals with USADA and the NAC have turned up good news and that he will “be back in the Octagon really soon.” Jones has yet to face his official hearing but his looming presence has called the Cormier-Johnson fight into question. This was exacerbated by comments from UFC President Dana White who suggested that Jones’ return could come in an interim title fight against Anthony Johnson instead of the assumed rematch between DC and Rumble.

But not everyone is happy with that idea. Speaking with Brian Stann on Toe-2-Toe on SiriusXM Rush, Cormier addressed the Jones return rumors and Dana White’s idea to have Jones and Johnson square off for the interim title.

“Now one thing I completely disagree with, completely – and I don’t care who hears it – why in the hell would Jon still be the interim champion? That makes no sense. That makes absolutely no sense. They should not be fighting for an interim championship. That makes no sense at all. I don’t even know why he would still be the interim champion. His ass was disqualified. Take that freakin’ belt off of him. That’s stupid.

“I hope to God Dana misspoke, because that makes absolutely no sense. They aren’t fighting for some interim title if they fight. They can fight in the main event because it’s a big fight but it’s a fun fight. If they fight, they fight to determine the number one contender it’s not some interim championship fight. That makes no sense at all… You’d have an interim champion defending the interim championship while the actual champion is actually still there. That makes no sense whatsoever.”

It is currently unclear whether Jones actually still has an official interim title. After the temporary suspension, Jones was dropped from the official UFC rankings, which would seem to indicate a stripping of the title but no official confirmation has ever come down.

As for his return, Jones faces up to a one-year suspension from USADA with more possible from the NAC. If things are as fortuitous as Jones appears to believe, the most likely scenario would be a six-month suspension from USADA as happened with Jones sometimes training partner, Yoel Romero. A six-month suspension could mean Jones is eligible to return early next year. If Cormier sits on the sidelines while all of this occurs, that would mean the actual UFC light heavyweight title will go well over a full year without being …

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