Daniel Cormier says Jon Jones ‘lost his mind’ arguing with fans that he is the UFC GOAT, not Khabib Nurmagomedov

When Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from MMA following his victory over Justin Gaethje, quite rightly, people started talking about him as one of the greatest of all-time.

At 29-0, Khabib retired the UFC lightweight champion and did so with a pristine record.

However, Jon Jones took to Twitter that very night and insisted due to the amount of title defences he has made, Khabib couldn’t be in the conversation.

“I’m talking to all you Khabib fans out there,” Jones wrote that night. “Fifteen world titles to your guy’s four. And you guys really talking about who’s the best fighter ever? You guys are joking, right? Fifteen to four, are you guys kidding me?”

Daniel Cormier is a longtime rival of Jones and teammate of Khabib’s. He weighed in on the situation in a recent interview and suggested that Jones’ ego played its part.

“I think sometimes we, as athletes, we all have egos,” Cormier told MMA Junkie Radio. “We all have massive egos. And active competitors don’t like the spotlight to stray too far away from them, and that’s why you get that sometimes.

“Give the guy his time. Let the guys have their moment. We have been blessed with so many moments, moments that people are hoping to have just one. … We need to really sometimes take a step to the side and understand it can be about the other guy for one night. It doesn’t have to be about him the whole time, but give him his time, especially when they have performances like that.”

“I think the biggest case of that recently was when Khabib was the man and then Jones just kind of lost his mind. It wasn’t about him, so he lost his mind.

“This guy just had a great performance under the circumstances – lost his father – now everybody is like, ‘This guy’s the best.’ OK, for years people have been saying (Jones) is the best.

“It should not offend (him) to the point that you feel like you have to go on this tangent and answer pretty much every single tweet.

“How do you answer every tweet sent to you when you have that many followers?

“I just think sometimes you gotta let go of your ego, read the room, pick your time, and do those things in those moments that are necessary,” Cormier said.

Jones’ CV is super impressive. He’s defeated anyone worth mentioning at 205lbs over the past decade – including Cormier – and has never been beaten by another man, only a disqualification.

The 33-year-old is rightly regarded as one of the all-time greats, but his failed drugs tests admittedly strike an asterisk next to his name.

For Khabib, he comprehensively defeated Conor McGregor in the UFC’s highest-grossing fight ever and also has victories over Dustin Poirier, Gaethje and Rafael Dos Anjos.

If he had managed to go longer in his career and face McGregor again, it might have been unquestionable.

Jones does have a point, but the timing of it seems to be the problem for Cormier.