Following Wednesday’s announcement that Daniel Cormier (15-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) replaced injured Alexander Gustafsson (16-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) in a UFC 178 title fight with light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (20-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC), the rivals headed to social media for some spectacular pre-fight trash-talk.
While the jabs appeared to be more friendly rivalry than heated hatred, both Jones and Cormier got in some licks following the announcement of the fight, which airs Sept. 27 on pay-per-view.
First up was Cormier’s appearance on Wednesday’s edition of “UFC Tonight,” in which he said he got a Twitter direct message from Jones, though he was unable to reply. He eventually posted a screen grab:
Guys please get this message to @JonnyBones he doesn't follow me. Didn't think I followed him. Hes a ninja #newchamp http://t.co/ljayBbJham—
Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) July 24, 2014
But that was just the beginning of the fun.
There was the initial tweet from Jones after the fight announcement:
This is the fight I wanted in the first place. Nothing like fresh meat #Champion2014—
Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) July 24, 2014
And the Instagram post in which Jones said “I love fighting wrestlers”:
The champ, after all, took some heat this past month when he expressed interest in fighting Cormier instead Gustafsson. Some fans criticized him for “ducking” Gustafsson, who narrowly lost to the champ at UFC 165 this past September. Jones addressed those complaints in an Instagram video on June 3 that he then quickly deleted (thought you can watch it here):
After Wednesday’s announcement of the Cormier fight, Jones’ daughter followed in her dad’s Instagram footsteps and got in on the rivalry with some (adorable) trash-talk:
As for Cormier, he’s launched a new “#BreakBones” campaign, complete with its own line of T-shirts:
I wore this tee shirt for the first time today! It is OFFICIALLY TIME to #BreakBones #DCGrinds @cfAthletic #ufc178 cfathletic.com/cagefightercom…—
Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) July 24, 2014
OK, as far as fighter T-shirts go, this is actually pretty clever: http://t.co/CGiqls5G3i—
Dann Stupp (@DannStupp) July 24, 2014
Regardless, Jones clearly has some new motivation, as he detailed in this Instagram video:
Jones, though, continued searching for positive vibes:
So grateful to be on this journey. Living my life to the fullest—
Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) July 24, 2014
Happiness to me is living at your greatest potential—
Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) July 24, 2014
While the trash-talk is likely to continue for the next nine weeks, for now, we can simply look forward to this awesome match-up (between the No. 1 and No. 3-ranked fighters in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light heavyweight rankings). And remember, we’re only 65 days away from these two elite-level fighters stepping in the cage at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena:
For more on UFC 178, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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