UFC 182: Despite win, Jones keeps jawing

At some point last week, amidst all the trash talk, pre-fight brawling and over-the-top rhetoric, Jon Jones appeared to leave the door open for the hatchet to be buried after he and Daniel Cormier finally fought Saturday night.

So much for that idea.

Jones immediately dialed up the animosity after successfully defending his light heavyweight belt for the eighth consecutive time with a unanimous decision victory over Cormier in the main event of UFC 182 at the MGM Grand Garden.

“I don’t like Daniel Cormier,” Jones said after the bout on the Fox Sports 1 postfight show. “I don’t respect Daniel Cormier. I hope he’s somewhere crying right now. I’m sure he is. I can’t wait until he earns his way back so I can whoop him again.”

There was an indication Jones wasn’t ready to let go of the feud before the final bell even rang.

With about five seconds remaining in the fight, Jones raised both arms in jubilation. Cormier just stood back and watched, prompting Jones to pounce and land two final punches.

Cormier’s retaliatory blows failed to connect and may have come too late anyway.

As Jones walked back to his corner, he made a chopping motion with both hands toward his groin, a move made popular in professional wrestling.

“I put my hands up and I was surprised he didn’t attack me. Once I realized he let his guard down, I hit him twice right before the bell and he tried to hit me twice after the bell. He didn’t hit me, but he almost hit (referee) Herb Dean,” Jones said. “That’s why I gave him the, ‘Suck it’ sign, because he tried to hit me after the bell.”

During his postfight interview in the cage with TV color commentator Joe Rogan, Jones seemed to take particular offense at the T-shirt Cormier had been wearing that said, ‘Break Bones,’ a reference to the champion’s nickname.

The shirt was also available for purchase.

“If you bought a ‘Break Bones’ shirt, take it back, you wasted your money,” Jones said. “I’m sorry to be classless like this. I do not like Daniel Cormier and that’s why I’m being this way.”

The champion had calmed down a bit by the time of the news conference about an hour after the event.

Still, he wasn’t exactly apologetic.

“I know if he would have won he’d be up here talking all types of trash,” Jones said. “So I don’t really feel sorry for him. This is combat.”

Cormier wasn’t at all defiant in defeat.

He said he felt the fight was competitive, but didn’t dispute the scorecards.

Then came the question about once again falling short on his sport’s biggest stage. Cormier placed second in the NCAA wrestling tournament and fourth at the Olympics. He had hoped Saturday night would be his chance to finally get over that final hurdle.

But he fell short again.

Cormier battled back tears as he addressed the media.

“This is not going to ruin me,” he said. “One way or the other, I’m going to stand across the cage from that man again. And I believe, just as I did tonight, I’ll take the fight to him again, I guess.”

A rematch will not happen next.

Jones’ next defense is targeted for the winner of a Jan. 24 bout between Anthony Johnson and Alexander Gustafsson.

Gustafsson, who gave Jones his toughest test to date in a close decision in September 2013, posted on social media late Saturday night that he was “not impressed” with Jones’ performance in the win over Cormier.

A rematch with Gustafsson could provide Jones an opportunity to erase any last bit of lingering doubt about his dominance in the division.

Jones has even bigger plans. He wants to be considered the greatest fighter of all time. His resume alone may already place him at that level.

UFC president Dana White, however, wasn’t ready to crown a 27-year-old with such a title.

“It’s hard for me because Jon Jones is so young and has so many more things to accomplish,” White said. “But, yeah, he’s beaten the who’s who, he’s cleaned out the division and he’s breaking records. If this continues, yeah, he’s probably the greatest ever.”

Jones doesn’t want to make the claim just yet either, if just to continue to use it as motivation. He knows he’s not too far off, though.

“My plan is to become the greatest fighter of all time. It’s so feasible. It’s so attainable. All I have to do is keep working and keep focused and I believe 2015 will be the year I solidify it,” Jones said. “I’ll put Anderson (Silva) and Georges (St. Pierre) above me. That will keep me driven and I’ll keep that as my psychology until it can’t be argued anymore.”

The way he keeps dispatching of every challenge that comes along, that won’t be too much longer.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.