There was no way things were going to stay quiet between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier in the weeks leading up to UFC 200, and the back and forth war of words already has heated up a month out from the event.
On Monday, Cormier posted a video of a brand new punching bag he received with Jones' image emblazoned on the front of it. Cormier jokingly smacked the bag and it clearly got Jones' attention because he responded in a big way on Tuesday.
Jones dropped an Instagram post of his own and decided to take aim at Cormier, unleashing on his longtime rival.
"It's good to see you enjoying your last days as paper champ Daniel," Jones wrote. "I was actually planning on leaving you alone and letting you enjoy them with your family, then you had to go and put this weird (expletive) on the Internet.
"It's obvious I'm (expletive) deep in your head right now, but you can pause with all that groping there (expletive) boy. You'll be getting your ass kicked soon enough, just really hoping these aren't your tactics for UFC 200. See you soon buddy, train smart. Don't need you pulling out again."
Jones then closed out the post by signing it "the actual light heavyweight champion".
Jones and Cormier have engaged in one of the most bitter rivalries in UFC history over the past two years, and soon they will face off again in the biggest event of the year on July 9 in Las Vegas.
Jones defeated Cormier at UFC 182 in 2015, however he was stripped of the title after an arrest and Cormier won the vacant belt. Jones won an interim title in his return to the Octagon, and at UFC 200 they will meet again to unify the light heavyweight title.
If this first exchange is any indication, Jones and Cormier are just warming up for what should be a very heated few weeks until they finally face off.
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