Tag: daniel cormier

Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier Could Be Greatest Matchup in MMA History

These are the times we should all hold dear.
Six months from now, if things go south again and 2015 turns into a repeat of this year’s drudgery, MMA fans will look back in awe at Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier.
The extended lead-up to Saturday night’s UF…

These are the times we should all hold dear.

Six months from now, if things go south again and 2015 turns into a repeat of this year’s drudgery, MMA fans will look back in awe at Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier.

The extended lead-up to Saturday night’s UFC 182 main event has been pure pleasure, with Jones and Cormier establishing themselves as one of the greatest pairings in our sport’s short history.

At this point, their actual fight will merely be the icing on the cake.

Until it’s over, we won’t know for sure if we can consider their rivalry the best ever though it’s certainly already in the running.

MMA has perhaps never seen a matchup that can compete with Jones-Cormier in all categories—including sheer stakes, prestige, competitiveness and actual, honest-to-goodness dislike. If the bout itself can even halfway live up to the hype, we’re talking about a clash for the ages.

In many ways, Jones vs. Cormier is a throwback to the light heavyweight division’s glory days. Their names don’t feel at all out of place in the same sentence with all-time UFC greats Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz or iconic Pride standouts like Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson or Shogun Rua.

This feud has come close to matching the genuine bitterness of Ortiz’s trilogy with Ken Shamrock, which spanned 2002-06.

The two men now feel as intertwined in each other’s career paths as Georges St-Pierre and B.J. Penn did during their pair of fights in 2006 and 2009.

The on-stage brawl Jones and Cormier started at a media event in August bested anything Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva did for actual fireworks back in 2010.

When they meet in the cage on Saturday, it’ll feel as significant as Fedor Emelianenko finally getting together with Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic in 2005. It’ll seem as big a moment for the fight company as Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler was for Bellator in 2011. At least on paper, it could be as evenly matched as this year’s epic welterweight title bouts between Robbie Lawler and Johny Hendricks.

In fact, depending on exactly how things shake out this weekend, Jones-Cormier has a chance to surpass them all.

Jones has already established himself as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and the greatest 205-pounder of all time. Back in 2011, he saved the vaunted light heavyweight division from the listlessness created by Liddell‘s decline and—with one notable exception against Alexander Gustafsson in Sept. 2013—has seemed all but untouchable.

He’s the odds-on favorite to go down as the best ever at any weight by the time his career is over. Yet all that doesn’t even tell the whole story.

Jones is a unique figure in the history of MMA. His signature complement of size, athleticism, creativity and occasional mean-spiritedness is unmatched even by the Emelianenkos, Anderson Silvas and St-Pierres of the world.

He’s so talented, he’s known to beat his opponents at their own game, attacking them where they are strongest in order to prove himself better there. When he takes on the former captain of the U.S. Olympic wrestling team, he says it’ll be no different, as he told MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti last week:

I will try to wrestle Daniel Cormier. I definitely plan on making him work extremely hard for any takedowns he’s going for, and I’m definitely going to be looking for takedowns myself. I’m more than capable of taking him down, and I believe in my top game. So I’ll definitely look to attack Daniel at his strengths, and weaknesses.

Jones was such an athletic revelation when he first broke into the big time back in 2008 that some fans flatly didn’t buy his humble, “nice guy” act. They charged him with being fake. When Jones opened up and showed the world a bit more of his true self, they called him arrogant.

He’s the sort of guy who could easily play either the hero or the villain in the greatest MMA story ever told. Depending on how you feel about him, he’s ever more detestable or likable simply because nobody’s really been able to beat him.

Now comes an undefeated challenger to test everything we think we know about Jones and every conclusion we’ve already jumped to about his legacy.

Cormier was 13-0 at heavyweight from 2009-13, and were he not close friends with reigning UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, he likely would’ve stayed there. Instead, Cormier dropped to light heavyweight early in 2014 and through two fights at 205 pounds has proved the weight cut doesn’t deprive him of any of the fearsome skills that made him a force in his previous division.

He figures to be the stiffest test of Jones’ career and was so confident about his chances, he let it be known he planned to fight the champion with an injured knee when their bout was first scheduled in July. When Jones himself dropped out with a knee injury a month later, Cormier couldn’t help but note the differences in their approaches.

“It can be a blessing,” he told Mike Hill of Fox Sports 1’s America’s Pregame (h/t UFC.com’s Thomas Gerbasi) at the time, “but I would be outside of myself to not say that I went into this fight knowing that my knee was pretty jacked up and I was gonna fight through it to get a title. I don’t think (Jones) is ducking me. … Sometimes, you gotta just tough it out and go in there and fight.”

When they finally do that this weekend, Cormier will have to overcome Jones’ significant size and reach advantages, but his previous experience at heavyweight makes that nothing new. It’s hard to think back on him beating up Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Roy Nelson or body-slamming Josh Barnett without figuring he’ll be a handful for Jones, too.

Nobody knows for sure how it’s going to play out—if they say they do, don’t trust them—and that just adds an extra layer to an already stellar fight.

This event likely won’t crush any pay-per-view buyrate records. It stands to be a nice little seller for the UFC, but it won’t match the huge numbers put up by guys like Brock Lesnar and St-Pierre during the prime of their careers. That says more about the slumping state of the sport at large than the greatness of this matchup, however.

If you spent much of 2014 waiting for something to cheer for, or if you were part of the throng who drifted away from this sport during the last few years, now is the time to go all in once again.

Even if it’s for one night only.

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Jon Jones Not Impressed by Daniel Cormier’s Victory over Old Man Dan Henderson

Jon Jones was not impressed by your performance against Dan Henderson, Mr. Daniel Cormier. 
At UFC 173 in May of 2014, Cormier solidified himself as the No. 1 contender to Jones’ strap by decimating Hendo via third-round submission. After repeated…

Jon Jones was not impressed by your performance against Dan Henderson, Mr. Daniel Cormier. 

At UFC 173 in May of 2014, Cormier solidified himself as the No. 1 contender to Jones’ strap by decimating Hendo via third-round submission. After repeatedly tossing Henderson to the mat like a child (no, seriously) throughout the fight, Cormier cranked the intensity and strangled his foe into unconsciousness with a rear-naked choke.

The win was dominant. It was hard to watch, even. It was a one-sided beatdown the likes of which we rarely see between two legitimate professional fighters. 

And it was thoroughly unimpressive, if you ask the division’s king. 

On a recent episode of UFC Presents, Bad Blood: Jones vs. Cormier, Jones talked about Cormier‘s showdown with Henderson, saying that if DC expects to waltz to the title with similar ease at UFC 182 on Jan. 3, he’s in for a rude awakening (transcription via MMAfighting.com’s David St. Martin). 

“Your last fight was against Dan Henderson,” Jones told Cormier on the show. “You beat a guy that’s 50 years old and now you step in against a 27-year-old who’s going to come in there at 227 pounds healthy, young and athletic. If he thinks he’s getting in there against a Dan Henderson, or if that’s giving him any type of sense of security where he thinks he’s just going to rule the light heavyweight division, he’s sadly mistaken.”

Jones, however, did not stop there. He continued to lay it on Cormier and the former Pride champion Henderson, upping the trash-talk to the tune of one decade. 

“He (Cormier) beat Dan Henderson, who’s like a 60-year old, and started talking trash to me on the mic right away,” Jones aid. “I’m going to give him what he’s wanted and that’s an opportunity to get his butt whooped by me.”

While Cormier was the last Strikeforce heavyweight champion before the organization folded, he has yet to fight for the title inside the UFC Octagon. He was a top contender at heavyweight, winning his first two UFC appearances against Frank Mir and Roy Nelson via decision, but he dropped to light heavyweight to continue his quest for gold.

There, Cormier rattled off two more wins, this time finishing his opponents with relative ease. Patrick Cummins was first up at UFC 171. Cormier obliterated him via first-round TKO. Henderson was next.

Jones, meanwhile, took over the light heavyweight class at UFC 128 in March of 2011 and hasn’t looked back.

Seven title defenses, four over former UFC champions, made him the most dominant 205-pounder of all time—and he’s still only 27 years old.  

With these resumes and so much back-and-forth verbal (and physical) abuse from both Cormier and Jones, UFC 182 is one of the most anticipated fight cards since UFC 168, where UFC middleweight legend Anderson Silva rematched 185-pound champ Chris Weidman in an attempt to recapture his belt. 

Who do you think will walk away with the light heavyweight strap? Will Jones reign supreme once more, or is Cormier the man to finally end his stay atop the division? 

Sound off below, and we’ll discuss this titanic 205-pound matchup. 

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Watch the Full “Bad Blood: Jones vs. Cormier” UFC 182 Hype Video Right Here

(Props: UFC on YouTube)

Though the UFC has already given us its “Hey Pussy Are You Still There” PPV promo, a UFC 182 extended trailer, and a Jones vs. Cormier “Countdown” segment, here’s one more video package about the mutual distaste between light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones and his upcoming challenger Daniel Cormier. They are beating this horse to death, homey.

Narrated by CNN personality/BJJ aficionado Anthony Bourdain, the half-hour “Bad Blood: Jones vs. Cormier” special aired recently on FOX Sports 1, and begins with a quick retrospective of some of the UFC’s other great rivalries. The Shamrock/Tito “living death” moment shows up within the first 10 seconds, which I appreciated. But also, we’ve got BJ Penn explaining to Georges St-Pierre that he wants to kill him — “and I’m not joking about this” — and clips of Brock Lesnar and Rampage Jackson acting rather unprofessional. The implication is, Jon Jones may have threatened Daniel Cormier with actual death, but look, sometimes these things happen in MMA.

Anyway, it’s worth a look if you have any patience left for Jones/Cormier pre-fight hype. There aren’t too many surprises here, but we do get an interesting look at Cormier’s training relationship with Khadzhimurat Gatsalov, the phenom Russian wrestler who defeated Cormier at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Plus: Some never-before-heard insults (“How much you weigh right now, fat fuck?”).

It also makes me wonder: If Jones and Cormier never brawled on stage, and never cursed each other out during that SportsCenter interview, how would the UFC promote this fight? Would it be enough that the two greatest light-heavyweights in the world were facing each other on January 3rd? How badly do we need bad blood?


(Props: UFC on YouTube)

Though the UFC has already given us its “Hey Pussy Are You Still There” PPV promo, a UFC 182 extended trailer, and a Jones vs. Cormier “Countdown” segment, here’s one more video package about the mutual distaste between light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones and his upcoming challenger Daniel Cormier. They are beating this horse to death, homey.

Narrated by CNN personality/BJJ aficionado Anthony Bourdain, the half-hour “Bad Blood: Jones vs. Cormier” special aired recently on FOX Sports 1, and begins with a quick retrospective of some of the UFC’s other great rivalries. The Shamrock/Tito “living death” moment shows up within the first 10 seconds, which I appreciated. But also, we’ve got BJ Penn explaining to Georges St-Pierre that he wants to kill him — “and I’m not joking about this” — and clips of Brock Lesnar and Rampage Jackson acting rather unprofessional. The implication is, Jon Jones may have threatened Daniel Cormier with actual death, but look, sometimes these things happen in MMA.

Anyway, it’s worth a look if you have any patience left for Jones/Cormier pre-fight hype. There aren’t too many surprises here, but we do get an interesting look at Cormier’s training relationship with Khadzhimurat Gatsalov, the phenom Russian wrestler who defeated Cormier at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Plus: Some never-before-heard insults (“How much you weigh right now, fat fuck?”).

It also makes me wonder: If Jones and Cormier never brawled on stage, and never cursed each other out during that SportsCenter interview, how would the UFC promote this fight? Would it be enough that the two greatest light-heavyweights in the world were facing each other on January 3rd? How badly do we need bad blood?

UFC 182: Daniel Cormier, Wrestling and Jon Jones’ Kryptonite

It’s no secret to anybody that Jon Jones is pretty good at this whole mixed martial arts thing. He’ll roll into UFC 182 on Saturday as an essentially unbeaten champion who has almost never been seriously tested in his career.
He’s bee…

It’s no secret to anybody that Jon Jones is pretty good at this whole mixed martial arts thing. He’ll roll into UFC 182 on Saturday as an essentially unbeaten champion who has almost never been seriously tested in his career.

He’s been so far ahead of the curve in his more recent title defenses that he’s begun toying with new skills and entering the belly of the beast more often just for the sake of it. He’s become, for all intents and purposes, a Superman of the sport.

People thought wrestling Glover Teixeira was his best path to victory at UFC 172, so he outboxed the Brazilian just to prove he could.

Before that, he contested a kickboxing match against Alexander Gustafsson despite what pundits thought best, and even before that he decided to out-wrestle wrestling stalwart Chael Sonnen for his own enjoyment.

The champion has enjoyed quite a run for himself since earning the title in 2011, defending it seven times and pushing his record to 20-1 with perhaps the lamest DQ loss the sport has ever seen serving as his lone black mark.

UFC 182 sees him standing across the cage from a new challenge, that of undefeated former heavyweight Daniel Cormier, an Olympian of years past with skill and character for days. Jones has seen similar obstacles in his past, but he’s not seen this particular obstacle.

In many ways, the possibility exists that he could be staring down his own personal kryptonite come fight night.

Cormier has the real potential to make Jones’ night long and unpleasant, to push him into uncomfortable areas by way of his heavy, bullying style and capacity for explosive, athletic takedowns. Though his resume is less than sterling and he’s getting on in years, he’s nothing for the champion to take lightly.

The fact is that, as he’s rounded out his game and become a near-perfect mixed martial artist, Jones has seen his wrestling falter a little. Where once his opponents couldn’t get inside to rough him up for fear of eating all manners of unique violence in the form of strikes or throws, they’ve more recently found success there.

Teixeira touched him up a few times inside (though that’s undoubtedly where the Brazilian does his best work) and Gustafsson scored a clean takedown despite a nonexistent amateur wrestling pedigree. Those are both great signs for Cormier, who works similarly well in close quarters and will surely land more than a single takedown if given the chance.

That’s the path to victory for the challenger: Embrace being that kryptonite to Jones in the wrestling department. Few people have managed before him, but some have had success in individual elements of that game plan. If Cormier can put them together, he could become champion.

Those words are more easily written than they are executed, however. The very idea that one has to pick disembodied elements of fights and game plans from separate opponents and then stitch them together just to give a challenger a hope speaks to how expert Jones is in the Octagon.

He’s a transcendent talent, the type that should serve as the blueprint for anyone coming behind him who fancies chasing UFC gold one day. Cormier, for all his decoration and respect in the MMA community, has his work cut out for him to take that away.

Everyone knows what he’s got to do to make it happen though. Every Superman has his kryptonite, and Cormier may have it in his possession for the Superman that is Jones by way of his wrestling pedigree and sheer force of will.

For however long their battle lasts, watching that exchange play out should be fascinating.

 

Follow me on Twitter @matthewjryder!

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UFC 182: Early Predictions for Jones vs. Cormier Main Event

On January 3, the bitter feud between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier will finally come to a head at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. 
By now, the rivalry that has formed between the UFC light heavyweight champion and the former Strikeforce Heavweight Gra…

On January 3, the bitter feud between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier will finally come to a head at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. 

By now, the rivalry that has formed between the UFC light heavyweight champion and the former Strikeforce Heavweight Grand Prix winner has been well documented. The animosity between the two has become great promotional fodder for the organization. 

The time for tough talk has now passed. The question is whether DC’s impressive wrestling pedigree, strength and athleticism will be answered in the Octagon on Saturday night. All the hype aside, there’s no doubting that Cormier presents a unique challenge when compared to the previous seven challengers for Jones’ title. 

Here’s an early look at the main event with a prediction as to who will have his hand raised when it’s all said and done. 

When: Saturday, Jan. 3

Start Time: Fight Pass Prelims at 7 p.m. ET (subscription required); Fox Sports 1 Prelims at 8 p.m. ET; Main Card PPV at 10 p.m. ET

Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas

Live Stream: UFC.tv

Odds via Odds Shark as of Sunday, Dec. 28 at noon ET.

 

Fight Preview

Looking at the odds attached to this bout, it’s clear that the public is buying Cormier as a legitimate threat to the champion. Jones’ -170 line is the lowest it’s been since he took on Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for the title in 2011, according to BestFightOdds.com.

Beside the UFC’s great job of hyping up the fight, there’s a reason for that. 

Cormier‘s wrestling pedigree is well documented. Before becoming an undefeated mixed martial artist, DC was a fourth-place finisher in freestyle wrestling at the 2004 Olympics, a bronze medalist in the 2007 World Championships and a 2008 Team USA wrestling captain. 

What’s more, the former Strikeforce star has demonstrated that his wrestling skills translate to MMA. He emerged victorious in the now-defunct organization’s heavyweight grand prix and sports an undefeated record. 

Looking at the fighters stats up to this point in their careers, the matchup once again looks even:

However, there’s still one mountain that Cormier must climb stylistically—Jon Jones’ reach. As Reed Kuhn of Fightnomics points out, the reach differential is one of the biggest in UFC history: 

If Jones’ freakish wingspan can be counteracted, Cormier has the tools to do it. Overshadowed by his strength and wrestling is the fact that DC has extremely quick hands and is a dynamic athlete himself. There’s a possibility that he’s quick enough to close the distance and catch Jones napping or at least clinch up to set up takedowns. 

Of course, no one is better at utilizing his or her reach than the reigning champion. There’s an equally good chance that Jones will be able to control the distance with an array of leg kicks, jabs and elbows and slowly break down the challenger over the course of the five-round fight. 

Essentially, it all comes down to distance. If Jones can patiently pick apart the challenger, it’s another easy title defense. If Cormier can find ways to close that distance, the champion just might find himself on his back. 

 

Prediction

Another fighter who knows a thing or two about utilizing distance is Alexander Gustafsson. As the lone title contender who has actually experienced some success against Jones, the 6’5″ Swede has unique insight into the champion’s challenge that lies ahead. 

“It’s an interesting matchup,” he told Thomas Gerbasi of UFC.com. “Both are great athletes and it’s going to be a tough fight for sure. But Jones has his height and reach advantage over DC, so I think that will be the key thing in this fight. I think Jones by decision.”

It’s difficult to argue with Gustafsson. Cormier and Jones are very different fighters, but both possess upper-echelon athleticism.

If Cormier is going to pull off the upset, he’ll need to make the most of the times he’s able to close the distance. That means getting the fight to the mat and keeping top control or landing some of his powerful boxing on the inside. 

Basically, he needs to be the Cormier who ragdolled Dan Henderson and not the one who merely kept Frank Mir pinned against the cage at heavyweight. 

Realistically, the task of consistently getting within striking distance of the champion will be too large. Cormier will have his moments in the fight. It’s conceivable that he’ll even spend the majority of one round in top control.

However, Jones should be able to control the pace and distance of the fight for long enough to earn the nod from the judges.

Jones via unanimous decision.  

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UFC 182: Jon Jones Comfortable in ‘Bad Guy’ Role Versus Daniel Cormier

Jon Jones is no stranger to having labels attached to his name. 
Throughout his meteoric rise to the top of mixed martial arts, the 27-year-old phenom has been a lightning rod of attention, drawing immense amounts of praise for the skills he’s sho…

Jon Jones is no stranger to having labels attached to his name. 

Throughout his meteoric rise to the top of mixed martial arts, the 27-year-old phenom has been a lightning rod of attention, drawing immense amounts of praise for the skills he’s shown inside the Octagon, and criticism for the way he’s carried himself outside of the cage. Whether that label be super star or villain, pound-for-pound great or instigator, at the end of the day the New York native is the UFC light heavyweight champion—the most dominant in the promotion’s history in fact.

Yet, all those elements have combined to make the Jackson/Winkeljohn representative one of the most polarizing figures in MMA, and the energy surrounding the long-reigning title holder has only intensified in the lead up to his highly anticipated tilt with rival Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 on Jan. 3 in Las Vegas, Nev.

Champion and challenger have exchanged barbs over the past two years during interviews and media appearances, but the beef between Jones and Cormier hit the stratosphere back in August when a routine media face-off between them turned into a brawl that made national news in the sports world. The two fighters went to blows in the lobby of the MGM Grand, and several moments later, their title tilt became one of the most anticipated showdowns in UFC history.

There have been plenty of promotional spots and interviews in the buildup to their collision at UFC 182, with the majority painting Jones as the villain in the matchup. The UFC included what was believed to be an off-air argument between Jones and Cormier in the promotional material for the event, and while the champion believes he’s being made out to be the “bad guy” in the situation, it’s a role he’s comfortable playing.

He knows the UFC and media are going to paint the storyline in the buildup to the fight, and those are elements he doesn‘t allow to affect him. “Bones” is focused on the work ahead and everything else is essentially just that.

“It’s easy to paint me as the instigator,” Jones told Bleacher Report at a recent media day in Albuquerque. “It changes the storyline and I think a lot of people want me to be the bad guy. It seems like the media has painted me to be the bad guy and I’m okay with that. I’m comfortable with that. Ultimately, I have a great team and family, I’m coming up in the world and life is great. It doesn’t matter if I’m the good guy or the bad guy. Every actor has their phases. Artists change their names. Fighters change their names at different stages of their careers. If I’m the bad guy right now for this storyline, then I’ll play the bad guy.”

While the bout against the former Olympic wrestler is figured to be his biggest test to date, Jones has spent his entire career—especially the past three years—answering one huge challenge after the next. He became the youngest champion in UFC history when he defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 back in March of 2011, and he has successfully defended his title on seven consecutive occasions in the three years since earning the strap.

That said, Cormier has built a swell of momentum on his quest to dethrone Jones as he’s built an undefeated record and earned a shot at the light heavyweight title without every losing a round inside the Octagon. The Louisiana native has also been quite vocal about his belief that he will defeat Jones at UFC 182, and the champion believes Cormier is doing whatever he can to make himself believe victory over Jones is a possibility.

In a recent interview, the AKA staple said he will not only defeat Jones but make it look easy at UFC 182 and statements of that nature leave the-pound-for-pound great shaking his head.

“[Cormier] reminds me of Chael Sonnen when he says things like that,” Jones said. “No disrespect to Chael, but Chael is very good at the antics and saying things that just aren’t true. For him to say he’s going to make it look easy, I know for a fact he doesn’t believe that in his heart. How can he say that? I don’t know what he’s seen as far as footage or my fights. Him saying he thinks he’ll win is one thing, but for him to say he’ll make it look easy is like saying, ‘I can fly.’ It just holds no weight.

“I like these fights. I’ve had all types of fights but I like these ones too. There is added motivation when there is somebody saying you’re gonna get dominated or get your butt kicked. It motivates me and fuels me. At the level I’m at—with so much experience and so many great fights—you need little things to keep that fire going. Not only going, but raging.”

While Jones vs. Cormier is a hotly anticipated affair and many believe “D.C.” to be the most difficult opponent he’s faced in his career, the young champion has spent every step of his reign faced with similar circumstances. Where the names of the opponents have changed, and the weapons they bring to the table differ (Lyoto Machida’s karate style, Alexander Gustafsson’s range), Jones has proven to be a versatile fighter with a diverse arsenal of skills.

The dominance he’s shown inside the Octagon has evoked comparisons to all-time boxing great Muhammad Ali, but Jones isn’t willing to give much credence to the notion. Ali is widely regarded as the greatest boxer to ever compete, with Joe Frazier being his greatest rival inside the ring, and that would make Cormier is “Smoking Joe” by comparison. 

Yet, while Jones isn’t willing to play much into that line of thought, he was confident there is always going to be another great challenge waiting around every corner. 

“I don’t think about those comparisons,” Jones said. “There will only ever be one Frazier and one Ali. We are in a totally different era and in a different sport. Who knows? If we want to compare ourselves to Ali and Frazier, there will always be a Frazier. I just have to keep passing these tests.”

 

Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise. 

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