UFC Analyst Joe Rogan explained Daniel Cormier's "fake" accusations towards the champion during the pre-fight media coverage for Jon Jones' next fight. The commentator also believes that "Bones" would be more of a fan-favorite if he were white.
Jon Jones' next fight was originally scheduled for UFC 178 for this month, but was rescheduled after the reigning light heavyweight champion suffered a leg injury during training. The bout was then moved to UFC 182 on January 3rd.
During one of the pre-fight media coverage of Jon Jones' next fight, title challenger Daniel Cormier referred to the champion as a "chameleon", insinuating that "Bones" was being a two-faced individual.
"You are just the fakest person," Cormier told Jones in an off-camera conversation at ESPN SportsCenter. "I actually admire that you can actually be this fake, and like, when the TV comes on, how you can just change. It's like you're a chameleon. It's awesome."
UFC analyst Joe Rogan offered his explanation behin Daniel Cormier's statements in the latest episode of his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.
"I think people want a guy who is so physically gifted and young and brash and black and rich, they want him to have more humility or fake humility, as it were," Rogan explained. "I think Jon's trying that a little bit and that's one of the reasons Daniel Cormier was like, 'You are so fake.' Cormier was saying that to him because I think he's trying to counteract how people feel about him."
Jon Jones has proudly taken on the black hat role as of late, trolling his fans through various Instagram posts, which were eventually deleted moments after. This has garnered him the villain role in the UFC.
However, Rogan also believes that "Bones" would be more popular among fans if he were white, just like how Chael Sonnen, who is deemed as a trash-talk master, is.
"I think they look at him as this cocky black guy and I think a lot of people have an issue with that," he continued. "I think that if he was a white guy and he was doing the same thing, a la a Chael Sonnen, I think he would be way more popular."
