Daniel Cormier eyeing Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida as potential training partners for Jon Jones fight

While Daniel Cormier has accomplished much in his brief mixed martial arts career, the title of UFC champion has thus far eluded him.

Naturally, Cormier is hoping to change that fact on September 27th when he challenges the sport’s pound-for-pound kingpin, light heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones, at UFC 178. Though if all goes as planned, Cormier will have some unexpected championship pedigree aiding him in his quest for the belt.

“I’ve got some friends and they put me in contact with some of the guys down in southern California, with Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida. I may down go there for a week,” Cormier revealed on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.

“That’s a possibility. We haven’t worked out all the details, but that is a possibility and we’ll see what happens.”

Aside from a potential partnership with Silva and Machida, Cormier also expects top-10 ranked light heavyweight Phil Davis and 6-foot-6 former UFC fighter Cyrille Diabate to join him in camp midway through August, although Cormier made sure to note that any additional training partners are just cherries on top of an already formidable sundae.

“I tell Jon Jones, show me two guys who can beat my two main training partners, Cain Velasquez and Luke Rockhold,” Cormier said of his accomplished stablemates at AKA. “You show me your two who are going to prepare you better than my two. So I’m going to rely on my guys, man. I’m going to rely on Cain, I’m going to rely on Luke to help me become the UFC champion. I’m going to reach out a little bit, but I’m not going to stray very far from my comfort zone.”

While the circumstances of his long-awaited title shot may not have been ideal — Cormier was initially scheduled to undergo knee surgery in July but elected to delay the procedure prior to receiving the call — he offered no excuses on Monday and firmly reiterated that he felt no limitations in his knee heading into the most important eight-week fight camp of his career.

Combined, Cormier and Jones’ remarkable résumés may make up one of the most decorated pairings in the history of mixed martial arts, and despite there being no love lost between the two rivals, Cormier also made it clear that he holds Jones’ accomplishments in high regard, to the degree that he even struck the champ’s lone loss from his record.

“Jon Jones is 22-0. He is the pound-for-pound greatest fighter that we may have ever seen, and I believe I can beat him,” Cormier asserted.

“I believe that on September 27th, reach and height, I don’t think all that’s going to matter. I believe I have the ability to beat Jon. I have the ability to compete with Jon, and I have the confidence in knowing that I can get the job done. This is the first time you have two undefeated guys fighting for a UFC championship. This is a big deal, man. This is the type of fight that we need in MMA to show that guys can sustained being undefeated for a really long time, and then getting to the top of the sport and fighting each other for the ultimate prize. So this is a big deal. I know I can feel it, Jon can feel it, and it can’t wait for it.”

While Daniel Cormier has accomplished much in his brief mixed martial arts career, the title of UFC champion has thus far eluded him.

Naturally, Cormier is hoping to change that fact on September 27th when he challenges the sport’s pound-for-pound kingpin, light heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones, at UFC 178. Though if all goes as planned, Cormier will have some unexpected championship pedigree aiding him in his quest for the belt.

“I’ve got some friends and they put me in contact with some of the guys down in southern California, with Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida. I may down go there for a week,” Cormier revealed on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.

“That’s a possibility. We haven’t worked out all the details, but that is a possibility and we’ll see what happens.”

Aside from a potential partnership with Silva and Machida, Cormier also expects top-10 ranked light heavyweight Phil Davis and 6-foot-6 former UFC fighter Cyrille Diabate to join him in camp midway through August, although Cormier made sure to note that any additional training partners are just cherries on top of an already formidable sundae.

“I tell Jon Jones, show me two guys who can beat my two main training partners, Cain Velasquez and Luke Rockhold,” Cormier said of his accomplished stablemates at AKA. “You show me your two who are going to prepare you better than my two. So I’m going to rely on my guys, man. I’m going to rely on Cain, I’m going to rely on Luke to help me become the UFC champion. I’m going to reach out a little bit, but I’m not going to stray very far from my comfort zone.”

While the circumstances of his long-awaited title shot may not have been ideal — Cormier was initially scheduled to undergo knee surgery in July but elected to delay the procedure prior to receiving the call — he offered no excuses on Monday and firmly reiterated that he felt no limitations in his knee heading into the most important eight-week fight camp of his career.

Combined, Cormier and Jones’ remarkable résumés may make up one of the most decorated pairings in the history of mixed martial arts, and despite there being no love lost between the two rivals, Cormier also made it clear that he holds Jones’ accomplishments in high regard, to the degree that he even struck the champ’s lone loss from his record.

“Jon Jones is 22-0. He is the pound-for-pound greatest fighter that we may have ever seen, and I believe I can beat him,” Cormier asserted.

“I believe that on September 27th, reach and height, I don’t think all that’s going to matter. I believe I have the ability to beat Jon. I have the ability to compete with Jon, and I have the confidence in knowing that I can get the job done. This is the first time you have two undefeated guys fighting for a UFC championship. This is a big deal, man. This is the type of fight that we need in MMA to show that guys can sustained being undefeated for a really long time, and then getting to the top of the sport and fighting each other for the ultimate prize. So this is a big deal. I know I can feel it, Jon can feel it, and it can’t wait for it.”