Jon Jones urged not to make same mistakes as Conor McGregor

UFC legend Daniel Cormier has advised long-time rival Jon Jones NOT to turn into former dual-weight champion Conor McGregor.

Last month saw Jones hang up his gloves from MMA, with Tom Aspinall being bumped up to undisputed heavyweight champion. Despite capturing the title in 2023, Jones would only go on to defend the belt once - a knockout victory over Stipe Miocic last November.

It seemed inevitable that Jones and Aspinall were headed for a clash, but Jones failed to publicly commit to fighting the British sensation. Just weeks after confirming his retirement, Jones announced that he had re-entered the drug testing pool - which he would need to fight again, reports All Out Fighting.

The American MMA veteran also expressed interest in fighting at the White House after US president Donald Trump revealed his plans to host a UFC event there. Over recent weeks, Jones has been the hot topic on Cormier's YouTube channel, where 'DC' stated that his ex-opponent's antics reminds him of McGregor – but for all the wrong reasons.

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Speaking on the , Cormier said: “Jon Jones and I don’t see eye-to-eye in most instances. And, boy, he’s been great for my YouTube here this last couple months. Him flopping all over the place has been great for my YouTube. Please don’t become what Conor has become in the media.

“Every time a big story breaks, Conor’s like, I’m back, or I’m doing this. Don’t do that. Don’t try to make it about you when you voluntarily walked away from this. Conor didn’t voluntarily walk away. Conor got hurt, and he left. He just hasn’t come back. Jones voluntarily said I’m done. So now that he’s done, don’t try to make these stories about you whenever you’re a guy that’s supposed to have walked away from the game."

Despite their ongoing feud, Cormier disclosed the one situation where he would back Jones. 'DC' expressed his desire to see a fellow American triumph in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. With rumours of the White House hosting the event, Cormier confessed he would even support 'Bones' if he decided to return from retirement for the significant occasion.

"(It needs) a bad, bad American that's going to win," Cormier said. "It pains me to say, if we've got to send one bad American out there to get the job done...call Jon Jones. I would cheer so hard for him! I would cheer so hard for him on the White House. I know you guys always say I'm hard on Jones, if we've got to send one American fighter out to the White House to get a dub, man, send Jon Jones out there."

Jones recently admitted that he now 'likes' the idea of a fight against Aspinall. His comments came just days after making a dramatic retirement U-turn. The 37-year-old recently commented on a post on Instagram which depicted him fighting - and beating - Aspinall at the White House, with the British star left on the floor while Jones celebrated his victory. In response, he wrote: "I like this."