It’s safe to say that losing to Jon Jones is a memory that will never exit the mind of UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. The competitor in “DC” wouldn’t allow it, especially given the tumultuous rivalry the two greats share and the ongoing debacle that’s keeping Jones on the sidelines.
Luckily for Cormier, he’s able to take his frustrations out on other light heavyweights not named Jones. From Alexander Gustafsson to Anthony Johnson, Cormier has beaten them all outside of “Bones.” He’ll have the chance to continue that trend at UFC 220 on Jan. 20 live on pay-per-view (PPV) from inside TD Garden in Boston, Mass., when he takes on rising knockout specialist Volkan Oezdemir.
Cormier will not only look to spark another successful title reign, but he’ll try to lay a big enough smackdown on “No Time” to wipe away some of the stink left behind from his recent knockout loss to Jones back at UFC 214 (overturned to a no contest).
“When you guys ask me these questions, it’s hard for me to not be who I am,” Cormier said yesterday (Fri., Dec. 29, 2017) at a UFC 220 press conference in Las Vegas (video replay here). “I always say July 29th I was in the octagon, I know what happened, (and) I don’t hide from the result. I know what happened, and I lost the fight. That’s my reality. But what do I do when I lose a fight? What do I do when I’ve had anything bad happen to me? I get up, I dust myself off, and I go back to work. That’s all I can do. …
“I feel like after the fight, there’s a stench, a stink on me from just a bad fight, a bad build-up, a bad result, a bad everything. I have to right that by not only beating Volkan Oezdemir, but really dominating him and smashing him. I’m going to smash him on January 20th. That’s the only way I can feel better being the competitor that I am.”
If Cormier is able to defeat Oezdemir at UFC 220 next month he’ll win his fourth UFC title fight. That number may mean something to Cormier and the legacy he’s going to leave behind, but the 205-pound champ is beginning to care less about who he actually defeats. Instead of worrying about his opponents and their potential fallouts, such as Jones’ UFC 200 circus and Oezdemir’s recent bar rumble, Cormier is simply focused on remaining champion.
“I look at these guys, and they have these issues,” Cormier said. “I’ve adopted this thought that it’s just on to the next guy. If Volkan shows up, he shows up. If it’s not him, it’s going to be someone else. I can’t worry myself with trying to make sure these guys stay out of trouble. I just stay steady.”
While Oezdemir’s ongoing court case isn’t expected to interfere with his UFC 220 title fight, you never really know. But if “No Time” is able to make it to the Octagon in Boston, Cormier will be waiting to throw down in hopes of wiping the slate clean for 2018.
For more UFC 220 fight card news click here.