Cormier fires back at Jones' claim their rivalry was kept alive for money

Daniel Cormier has pushed back hard against Jon Jones' claim that their long-running feud has been kept alive for financial gain — one of the most storied rivalries in UFC history.

Jones recently said that during filming of ALF Reality 3, Cormier told him: "I've made too much money hating you. We can never make up now." The remark fueled speculation that the pair's bitter animosity had been manufactured for promotional purposes.

Cormier denied the claim in a video posted to his YouTube channel. He said he never had any such conversation with Jones and called him a liar.

He acknowledged that the rivalry had been lucrative, saying: "Yes, Jon and I made a lot of money because we were enemies — so did Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, so did Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. You need a rival on the other side to make big money."

But Cormier drew a clear line at the suggestion that the hostility was manufactured for profit. "The rivalry wasn't fabricated," he said. "It's just that now we can work across from each other — not like before, but we can do it." He added: "I don't like him and I never will. We said terrible things to each other and about each other's families, and that doesn't just go away."

Both men are double champions in the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions, and their light heavyweight matchups rank among the most memorable in UFC history. Jones won by decision at UFC 182 in 2015, while their 2017 rematch at UFC 214 was overturned to a no-contest after Jones failed a drug test. From a heated weigh-in brawl to combative joint interviews, their feud is widely regarded as one of the greatest rivalries in the promotion's history.

Jones and Cormier crossed paths again this year on ALF Reality 3, filmed in Thailand — a Russian-market spinoff of the UFC's reality series The Ultimate Fighter. While tension surfaced at moments during filming, the two showed a degree of mutual respect that stood in sharp contrast to their clashes during their UFC careers.