Cormier: Jon Jones, Anderson Silva should be removed from GOAT discussion because of PEDs

Daniel Cormier is already considered one of the greatest fighters of all time, and if he beats Stipe Miocic at UFC 226, ‘DC’ may very well establish himself as the greatest of all time.

Cormier, the reigning light heavyweight champion, will look to become a simultaneous two-division champ when he moves up in weight to challenge Miocic for the heavyweight strap next Saturday.

And while Cormier will be looking to etch his name into the MMA history books forever, the former Olympian believes PED cheats like Jon Jones and Anderson Silva, who have failed multiple drug tests over the years, should never be ranked amongst the all time greats.

“Any time a guy does performance enhancing drugs and on multiple occasions, they eliminate themselves,” Cormier said during the UFC 226 media conference call on Thursday, per MMA Weekly’s Damon Martin. “So for as great as Anderson Silva was, he tested positive I think two times. Jones has tested positive two or three times. Those guys eliminate themselves.”

Cormier had previously compared Jones to disgraced drug cheat Lance Armstrong but had kept Silva’s name out of the discussion. ‘The Spider’ was suspended for one year after testing positive for steroids in 2015 and is now looking at a possible four-year suspension after testing positive for synthetic steroids in 2017.

Jones, who could also receive a four-year suspension after his most recent failed drug test at UFC 214, beat Cormier on two separate occasions but his latest win was overturned to a No Contest (NC) after the 30-year-old tested positive turinabol. ‘Bones’ was removed from the UFC rankings and Cormier was immediately reinstated as the official light heavyweight champion.

Cormier believes the likes of Jones and Silva will always be considered cheats and have tarnished their legacy for good, comparing both former champions to disgraced baseball players.

“When you start getting performance enhancers tied to your name, there’s no way around that. There’s no way around it, and I think that of all the sports, the people that pay the harshest price are the baseball players,” Cormier continued. “Because when you have negatives tied to your name, they deny you the ultimate vindication. The ultimate goal of a baseball player is to go to the Hall of Fame and these guys aren’t even getting close.

“The Mark McGwire’s, the Sammy Sosa’s, the Barry Bonds — those guys aren’t getting close because they have those bad things tied to their names. As a sport, I think MMA needs to evolve to the point that the punishment for having doing those things is your place within the sport should be challenged and should be questioned.”

Speaking of his upcoming fight at UFC 226, Cormier is confident that he will catapult to the top of the rankings with a win over Miocic, who is considered a top-three pound-for-pound fighter.

“I think I am. I don’t believe that anything else should be thought of. I should be in the conversation,” Cormier said.

“I want to be mentioned among the greats. The Georges St-Pierres and the Demetrious Johnsons, the guys that have done things the correct way over the course of their entire careers without that asterisk.”

The blockbuster pay-per-view takes place on Saturday, July 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.