Bleacher Report lead mixed martial arts writers Jonathan Snowden and Jeremy Botter have decided to band together—much like The Avengers or the Mega Powers, except better looking and with no tights—and tackle important questions facing the MMA world. Welcome to The Question.
First up: Can Daniel Cormier shock the world and end the reign of the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world?
Jonathan: I’ve been on the Jon Jones bandwagon since it first started taking passengers. To the chagrin of many, I called him the best fighter the sport had ever seen. Not controversial at all today. Groundbreaking in 2011—and he’s only gotten better.
Jones is a five-tool fighter. He has the wrestling prowess, sturdy ground game, striking from distance and clinch work to compete with the world’s best in each category. Add a legitimate mean streak and an unquenchable will to win and you’re left with an athlete seemingly destined to lord over the sport for years to come.
With this in mind, I only have one question about Daniel Cormier‘s chance to win. How?
Jeremy: There is no question that Jones is the best fighter walking the planet. He’s probably the best fighter in the history of the sport.
So in that respect, you and I agree: Jones is the best ever. And you listed all the reasons why. We haven’t seen many holes in his game, if any, and his penchant for beating his opponent at the strongest aspect of their game is incredible. You and I sat next to each other that night in Atlanta, back at UFC 145, when Jones absolutely wrecked Rashad Evans. Going into that fight, we both thought Evans had the tools to beat Jones. We were wrong. We were so very, very wrong.
But I believe Cormier has what it takes to beat Jones, and I think there’s a good chance he pulls it off.
For starters, Cormier‘s wrestling can’t be compared with anyone else Jones has faced. Cormier and Evans are not on the same level. Evans can’t even SEE Cormier‘s level. Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan love to throw around the “world class” term, but when applied to Cormier‘s wrestling, it is absolutely true.
Jones will not take Cormier down. It won’t happen. Jones is a fantastic wrestler, but Cormier‘s strength and skill allow him to keep the fight where he wants.
I’ll also echo something Cormier‘s coach Bob Cook told me last month when I was at AKA watching Cormier spar. “He just has a unique and very rare ability to land punches,” Cook said. “Even when he was just starting out and had horrible technique, he knew how to land.” Cormier is an accurate striker, and you and I have talked in the past about how his striking style resembles Fedor Emelianenko. He lands devastating power punches and he does so with accuracy. Mix that with his wrestling and cardio, and you have the recipe for someone with a pretty good chance of dethroning the champ.
Jonathan: Cormier was a world-class wrestler. Emphasis on was. He’s still definitely among the very best we’ve seen in the Octagon—but it’s not 2007 and Cormier is not the second coming of Dan Gable he’s often made out to be.
Listen, watching Cormier toss Dan Henderson around was a lot of fun. And it was quite impressive—but I’d seen it before from lesser grapplers with significantly less impressive pedigrees. And I’ve also seen ordinary wrestlers like Devin Cole do a decent job shaking Cormier off. He’s not unimpeachable in an MMA context.
That said, I concede his game is fearsome. Wrestling remains one of the foundations of a great MMA fighter’s game—either as an offensive weapon or a defensive shield. That’s a huge advantage for Cormier in any fight.
But MMA rarely rewards the one-dimensional anymore. For Cormier to execute a wrestling-based game plan, he has to enter into wrestling range. And, as Evans learned, that’s not always so easy against someone with Jones’ physical tools.
Jeremy: Those elbows and oblique kicks from Jones are the things nightmares are made of. Sitting here and thinking about Jones kicking me in the thigh, my leg bending backwards in ways it’s not supposed to?
Cormier certainly has to close the distance, and he has to figure out a way to negate or avoid those oblique kicks. If he doesn’t, it could be a very short or very long night. He can’t sit on the outside with Jones because his outside is so much further away than Cormier‘s.
The single scariest thing about Jones, though, is his mind. He studies his opponents more than any fighter in the sport. He compiles reams of data on their tendencies and weaknesses. And then he attempts to beat them using the strongest aspect of their game, mostly because he thinks it’s fun. But he won’t beat Cormier at wrestling. He won’t trip or suplex or throw him. And he won’t outmuscle him against the Octagon, either.
I think this is going to be a war of attrition. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty. I think it’s going to be a grueling grind, and that’s the kind of fight that favors Cormier.
Jonathan: Is it though?
The truth is, we’ve never really seen Daniel Cormier tested in the cage. And while it’s hardly his fault he’s managed to outclass his opponents so easily, it does leave some rather fundamental questions to the imagination.
What happens the first time Cormier gets rocked? I mean truly wobbled. Can he reach down and rise up, finding the wherewithal to overcome? We’ve seen Jones do it. Against Vitor Belfort and against Alexander Gustafsson he found a way to win when defeat looked likely.
Cormier, for all his wrestling credentials, was second-place on his best day. I know Jon Jones is a winner. Daniel Cormier still has to prove it to me.
Jeremy: This sounds familiar, probably because you could apply the same theory to Jones a few years ago. He’d never really faced true elite competition until he fought Shogun Rua for the belt. We didn’t know what he was capable of because we’d never seen him face an opponent who could push him.
You saw how that one ended. And this one has the potential to end the same way, with Cormier‘s hand raised in the air and a new gold belt strapped around his waist. Because it is true that Cormier hasn’t been tested by any of his opponents, but when did we start using dominance as a slight against someone? Why can’t we allow the fact that the man has never lost a round or even a minute of action in the cage as a sign that he might be something special?
I am not saying it is likely or even probable. What I’m saying is this: Cormier has a much better chance of winning than some are giving him, Jonathan, and don’t be surprised if he walks out of the Octagon with the belt. I know I won’t be.
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