Before their rivalry broadened into a public feud, Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier were the two leading figures at UFC light heavyweight, and their first sanctioned meeting set the competitive baseline. Their first in-cage meeting took place at UFC 182 on January 3, 2015, when Jones retained the light heavyweight title by unanimous decision (49–46 on all three scorecards) [1]. That result established Jones as the in-cage winner but left open narrative and legacy disputes that a single decision could not settle. Outside the Octagon, the earliest documented public escalation in this corpus occurred on March 1–2, 2016, when both fighters exchanged photo-manipulated Instagram posts and Cormier later deleted his post; media outlets captured screenshots and reported the episode [5]. The rivalry’s trajectory shifted from sporting competition to administrative and reputational conflict when Jones was removed from the July 6, 2016 UFC 200 card after USADA flagged a potential anti-doping violation related to clomiphene and letrozole, a development reported publicly and followed by a one-year suspension process [4]. That removal postponed an anticipated rematch and concentrated attention on Jones’ testing history. The combination of in-cage outcomes (UFC 182), social-media provocation (March 2016), and anti-doping interventions (July 2016 removal) set the scene for the defining incidents that followed in 2017 [1][5][4].
As of the last adjudicated public record in this corpus, there is no verified reconciliation accepted by both parties and the feud is effectively dormant in public-facing channels. The most recent formal action was USADA's arbitration summary published September 19, 2018, which imposed a 15-month sanction retroactive to July 28, 2017 and stated the arbitrator found Jones 'not intentionally cheating' [3][8]. Administrative steps that altered official records include the CSAC overturn of the UFC 214 result to a no-contest on September 13, 2017 [2][7]. Cormier's last documented public-facing gesture in the immediate aftermath of the fight was an Instagram congratulations on July 31, 2017 [6]. Absent later public statements or corroborated meetings in the collected sources, any assertion of private reconciliation would be speculative and is not supported by the documents cited here [3][2][6].
From Jon Jones' side, the core issue is that his in-cage performances stood on their own merit while anti-doping adjudications produced nuanced outcomes; the independent arbitrator ultimately reduced the sanction and noted no intentional cheating [3][8]. Jones' camp emphasizes procedural findings and the arbitrator's language to argue the record should reflect complexity rather than simple culpability [3].
From Daniel Cormier's view, the dispute centers on the integrity of title outcomes and the impact of testing results on legacy; Cormier accepted the in-cage stoppage at UFC 214 in his immediate public reaction but the subsequent overturn altered the official record that defines careers [6][2]. Cormier's public statements and conduct show a fighter responding first to the fight result and then to administrative rulings that changed the legacy calculus [6][2].
Media and fans saw the rivalry as two parts sport and one part controversy: two high-profile title fights produced clear in-cage moments while anti-doping rulings and social-media taunts created ongoing debate about legitimacy [1][2][5]. Coverage focused on documented events (fight results, commission decisions, arbitration) and archived social posts that kept the story in headlines [1][2][3][5].
As of the last documented public record in this corpus (USADA arbitration published Sept 19, 2018), there is no verified, mutually acknowledged reconciliation between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones; public interactions in 2017–2018 were adversarial and administrative rulings remain the last confirmed developments [3][2].
The rivalry began with sanctioned competition: their first title fight at UFC 182 on Jan 3, 2015, where Jones won by unanimous decision, and escalated due to social-media taunts and anti-doping findings (notably Jones' removal from UFC 200 on July 6, 2016 and the UFC 214 Turinabol positive) that brought administrative disputes into the public feud [1][5][4][2].
At UFC 214 on July 29, 2017 Jon Jones defeated Daniel Cormier by third-round TKO, but the California State Athletic Commission later overturned the result to a no-contest after Jones' in-competition sample (collected July 28) tested positive for a Turinabol metabolite [2][7].
An independent arbitrator imposed a 15-month sanction on Jon Jones (decision summarized by USADA on Sept 19, 2018), applied retroactively to July 28, 2017; USADA's summary also quoted the arbitrator as finding Jones 'not intentionally cheating' [3][8].
Jon Jones was pulled from the scheduled UFC 200 rematch with Daniel Cormier on July 6, 2016 after USADA notified the UFC of a potential anti-doping violation; reporting cited positives for clomiphene and letrozole and a subsequent suspension by Nevada authorities [4].
Yes; two days after UFC 214 (July 31, 2017), Daniel Cormier posted on Instagram, 'Congratulations to Jon Jones and his team. They did a phenomenal job and got the victory,' reflecting his immediate public reaction before the CSAC later overturned the result [6][2].
Documented social-media interactions—such as the March 1–2, 2016 photo-manipulated Instagram exchange and Jones' July 4–5, 2017 'By not making weight?' comment—kept the rivalry visibly public and amplified tensions during lead-ups to rematches, even though they did not themselves trigger regulatory actions [5][9].
The CSAC overturn of the UFC 214 result on Sept 13, 2017 removed Jones' in-cage TKO win from the official record (no-contest), and the subsequent USADA arbitration set a 15-month sanction retroactive to July 28, 2017—both actions changed how the bout and Jones' availability are recorded in regulatory and public records [2][7][3].