Daniel Cormier says Jon Jones' drug use has taken an irreversible toll on him

LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 03: Daniel Cormier (R) punches Jon Jones (L) in their UFC light heavyweight championship bout during the UFC 182 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on January 3, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Jon Jones has long had a notorious partying lifestyle that he now insists is in the past. The former light heavyweight champion has driven drunk, crashed cars and used cocaine during training camps.

Jones says he's living clean and sober these days, ahead of his UFC 200 title rematch against Daniel Cormier, but DC believes that all his partying has aged "Bones" beyond repair. "All the partying, all the other stuff, you have to pay for that, and now we're seeing where, it's starting to take a toll," Cormier said during a media tele-conference last week.

"It's time for all the outlandish living and burning the candle at two ends, and now we're getting to the middle where it starts to burn out. So that's who he is today."

Jones returned to action for the first time in over a year, last April, and won. Cormier was not impressed, and believes that the reason Jones couldn't finish Ovince Saint Preux was because he'd ruined himself with an unhealthy lifestyle.

"He's not the guy from before," Cormier continued.

"He may be 28 years old, but in reality, he's lived on this earth much longer with the long nights and all the other stuff he's done."

Cormier is much older than Jones but says that he's still the fresher man. "I've been here longer in age - I'm 37 - but I haven't burned it at both ends and become a middle-aged man at 28 years old," he reasoned.

"That's you today. You're that slow guy that was in the Octagon on April 23d that looked like garbage."

All that doesn't mean that Cormier thinks beating Jones will be easy, of course. Cormier doesn't think Jones will be any sharper than he was in April, when they fight on Saturday.

"He'll be tough, he'll always be tough," he admitted.

"He's a good fighter. But, you know, nothing's free. Nothing is free. So, the Jon that showed up against Ovince Saint Preux is the guy who's going to be in the Octagon on July 9."