Daniel Cormier breaks silence on future after Jon Jones loss: 'It's a tough pill to swallow'

In his first interview after suffering a devastating third-round knockout loss to rival Jon Jones at UFC 214, Daniel Cormier addressed what took place in the Octagon, what the future holds and whether he thinks he will eventually see Jones in another fight.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” Cormier said on ‘The MMA Hour’. “You’ve got to remember, I’m a guy who wants to be the best. I train hard, I work hard and I feel like I was ready to go. I feel like I was prepared, and I was very disappointed in the result of the fight.”

Unlike other fights, the rivalry between Cormier and Jones was deeply personal. The two have been embroiled in a very heated feud that has lasted for three years where they exchanged unpleasantries at every turn. Jones defeated Cormier at UFC 182 in 2015 and Cormier sought to even the score. But with Jones turning in an even more definitive victory with a third-round knockout, Cormier had to concede that Jones was the better man.

Cormier was overwrought with emotion after the loss and openly cried as he was being interview by UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

“I can’t really say it hurt more than I thought it would,” he said. “I was preparing to win. If you allow doubt to creep into your mind, it becomes a reality. So, for 12 weeks, my reality was that I was going to get my hand raised. Me being disappointed and sad means a lot, it might mean too much.”

With the loss, many have questioned what the future has in store for Cormier. The former champion said that he would consider moving up to heavyweight but the one thing that he is not considering is retirement.

“Why would I stop fighting?” Cormier said. “I feel like I still love the competition more than anything. That’s really what’s driving me. When I don’t have competition, I’m not in something like that, I’m miserable, man. I love to compete. I love to be in the environment.”

And, with that, Cormier doesn’t believe that this is the end of the rivalry with Jon Jones.

“Not only am I going to fight again, but I do believe that Jon Jones and I will fight again,” he said. “So, of course I have a desire to fight, and I believe that him and I will compete again before it’s all said and done.”