Daniel Cormier doesn’t believe UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones should win the 2023 ESPY award for best MMA fighter.
Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) has been nominated alongside lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, welterweight champion Leon Edwards, and recently retired dual champ Amanda Nunes.
Jones, a former longtime heavyweight champ, returned from a three-year layoff to quickly submit Ciryl Gane and capture the vacant heavyweight belt in March at UFC 285. While Cormier was impressed with his performance, he explained why he doesn’t think it’s enough to win Jones the 2023 ESPY for best MMA fighter.
“I just don’t know if one fight in the year against Ciryl Gane puts you in that position,” Cormier said on his ESPN show “DC & RC.” “And that’s no knock on Ciryl. It was just one fight. You gotta think of the storylines that follow these other athletes. From Makhachev beating ‘Do Bronx’ (Oliveira) to win the belt, from Makhachev beating Alexander Volkanovski. …
“Then you look at Amanda losing her belt to Julianna (Peña) and then winning it back. Then Leon Edwards doing what he did. Jon Jones is in there because Jon Jones is the biggest star. He’s the biggest star that’s holding a championship right now outside of Israel Adesanya. That’s why he’s in there. What’s crazy about it is, he might win it because of him being the biggest star of the people in there.”
Jones has been linked to a title defense against former champ Stipe Miocic, but is yet to be booked for his next fight. Cormier wanted to see a little more from Jones.
“I think Jones needed one more performance to find himself in the running for an ESPY,” Cormier continued. “The storyline just doesn’t add up.”
Jones is also nominated for an ESPY for comeback of the year. Nominated in the same category is Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets, Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun, and Justin Verlander of the New York Mets (formerly Houston Astros).
Cormier, who won the 2019 ESPY for best MMA fighter, thinks that’s the award that Jones should win.
“I agree with that: Jon Jones best comeback athlete, yes,” Cormier said. “I’m all in on that. Three years away, comes back and becomes the heavyweight champion of the world, absolutely, yes.”
