UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier wants Jon Jones stripped of the interim championship because "his ass was disqualified" from the UFC 200 main event, Cormier told Brian Stann on Toe-2-Toe on SiriusXM Rush.
"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."
The two heated rivals were scheduled to unify the light heavyweight and interim light heavyweight belts, but Jones was pulled from the fight days before due to a failed USADA test. Cormier, a former All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State, defeated former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in a three-round, non-title replacement fight.
With Jones being suspended, Anthony Johnson leaped into the presumed No. 1 contender spot after a vicious 13-second knockout against Glover Teixeira at UFC 202 in August. But UFC President Dana White has said the promotion is thinking about having Johnson face Jones in an interim title fight for the right to face Cormier, who doesn't want that to happen.
"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."
Jones is currently facing up to a one-year suspension from USADA, and possibly more time from the Nevada Athletic Commission. Jones could receive a six-month suspension, which would place his return in early 2017. If a Jones vs. Johnson fight does happen that would mean Cormier will have gone more than a calendar year without defending the title. Cormier could opt to take a "money," non-title fight in the mean time, but a loss would certainly complicate the title picture even more.
Cormier has ruled out fighting Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City at UFC 205.
"At this point [that]'s not being discussed. Honestly, that window is gone for me. I need like 10 to 12 weeks because I enjoy my time away from the Octagon. I hang with my family, we go on vacation, we do fun things and I tend to eat quite a bit when I'm on vacation...So that time for me is gone. I couldn't compete to the best of my ability in New York. I wouldn't be comfortable taking a fight there."
A Cormier vs. Johnson title bout would be a main card fight at UFC 206 on Dec. 10 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto or UFC 207 on Dec. 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.