Jon Jones and Anthony Johnson had everyone eating out of the palm of their hands after staging a fake fight at Saturday’s “UFC: Welcome to the Show” press conference.
Everyone, that is, except Daniel Cormier.
The former UFC light heavyweight cont…
Jon Jones and Anthony Johnson had everyone eating out of the palm of their hands after staging a fake fight at Saturday’s “UFC: Welcome to the Show” press conference.
Everyone, that is, except Daniel Cormier.
The former UFC light heavyweight contender believes Johnson is playing a dangerous game in putting on cooperative skits and acting friendly towards Jones. Fights are often won long before an athlete steps into the cage. Every media event spent next to an adversary is an opportunity to gain a mental edge.
When speaking on UFC 184’s post-fight show on Fox Sports 1, per MMAjunkie, Cormier was of the firm belief that Johnson missed his opportunity:
That whole little thing they did at the press conference, you don’t want to do that as a challenger. Why would Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson want to be Jon Jones’ friend? I understand good sportsmanship, but don’t let him goad you into playing games with him. You are coming to take that guy’s livelihood. You’re his opponent. You go out and get that guy.
The rehearsed brawl was aimed at pranking UFC President Dana White, a reenactment of the real brawl that took place between Jones and Cormier back in August 2014. UFC Vice President of Public Relations Dave Sholler stood in for White, who was on vacation, at a pre-fight press conference held in the MGM Grand lobby in Las Vegas.
Jones and Cormier getting a little too touchy-feely with one another during a staredown quickly escalated into thrown punches, a flying shoe and Sholler soaring through the media backdrop.
Unlike Johnson, the personal animosity wasn’t a thespian act for Cormier. Every bit of it was real, from the unparalleled smack talk leading up to the fight to both men finally meeting in the cage at UFC 182. Cormier lost a unanimous decision to Jones that night, a fate he expects Johnson to also endure.
“I love ‘Rumble’ Johnson, I think he’s great, and I think he has a fantastic chance,” said Cormier. “But I believe Jones is going to win.”
Jones returns to the MGM Grand Garden Arena to defend his UFC light heavyweight title against Johnson in the headliner of UFC 187 on May 23.
JordyMcElroy is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon and FanRag Sports.
Featuring four of the finest women’s bantamweight fighters on earth, UFC 184 goes down live in Los Angeles on Saturday.
With a main event that showcases women’s bantamweight champion and UFC superstar Ronda Rousey vs. Cat Zingano and a co-main ev…
Featuring four of the finest women’s bantamweight fighters on earth, UFC 184 goes down live in Los Angeles on Saturday.
With a main event that showcases women’s bantamweight champion and UFC superstar Ronda Rousey vs. Cat Zingano and a co-main event featuring one of the most decorated female prospects in UFC history in Holly Holm vs. Raquel Pennington, the event marks a historic moment for the UFC.
To break down this event, Bleacher Report talked with UFC light heavyweight and Fox Sports analyst Daniel “DC” Cormier. We dished about the importance of the event, the state of women’s MMA and more.
Bleacher Report: We have UFC 184 coming to Los Angeles. It’s just days away, and for the first time in UFC history, we have a main and co-main event held down by the ladies. How big is this card for women’s MMA?
Daniel Cormier: It’s huge. I always try to think about the significance of something in terms of history. How is this going to be remembered? It’ll be remembered like Ronda (Rousey) vs. Liz Carmouche a couple years ago or (Gina) Carano vs. (Cris) “Cyborg” (Justino). You had two women headlining a card for the first time, now you have Ronda headlining a card—she’s done that twice—now there are two girls in Raquel (Pennington) and Holly (Holm) who get to go in the co-main event, so this thing is built around these women.
Could we have ever thought about a UFC event headlined by four women? It’s crazy to think we’ve come so far in such a short period of time, but it’s right. It’s what should be happening right now.
B/R: And like you said, the historical significance is really important to keep in mind. When you think about that, how much of it is a product of Rousey and her marketability? Could this have ever happened without her?
DC: No. It’s 100 percent her. On Wednesday they asked the question, “Do you ever believe that women’s MMA will be at the level of men’s mixed martial arts?” And I said, “This is the test.” This is the test right here. Ronda Rousey is the biggest star women’s MMA has ever seen. Ronda Rousey might be the biggest star that women’s MMA will ever see. There may never be another Ronda Rousey. She’s once in a lifetime. No one will probably reach that level.
I know we thought that about Carano at the time, but then here comes Ronda, who has everything. She can’t lose a fight, she’s good-looking, she can act, she’s an Olympian, she’s had a lifetime of athletic accomplishments to back everything. As you push Ronda into the mainstream, people will want to question, “Oh, this is a girl fighter, this is a female fighter, what are you basing this on that she’s the best in the world?” Well, with Ronda Rousey, it’s her pedigree. It’s her multiple national championships. It’s her lifetime of competition.
There may never be a star or a person in women’s MMA bigger than Ronda Rousey, so this is the tell. This weekend will tell you how the sport will be remembered. And, no, it would have never happened this way without Ronda Rousey. It is 110 percent the doing of one woman. I know it sounds kind of weird to put that all on one person, but I think Ronda was so hard to ignore that the UFC had to take notice.
B/R: I personally think you’re spot on there, but that fact alone makes you think…Ronda isn’t going to fight forever. Like you said, she has acting, she has other things going on, and besides that, fighters get older. So when she’s gone, can women’s MMA maintain this level of success?
DC: You know, man, I think these women needed an opportunity. Gina Carano opened the door in Strikeforce and EliteXC, and Ronda opened the door to the UFC. I think now they’ll be OK. You have girls like Paige VanZant, Felice Herrig, Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas—these girls all have something about them that can actually maintain the sport. Not only the fighting, but you look at Paige with her personality, Felice with her personality, Carla with her ability to just compete like a flat-out warrior, Miesha Tate…I think the sport will be OK now.
I think these women just needed an opportunity to step inside the door, but they needed a leader, a person who was not going to be denied, a person who was going to bang on the door until you opened it.
And Ronda Rousey was that person. Now I believe these women will be OK. They are so talented, they are so smart, they have so much personality. They’ll be OK.
B/R: You’ve kind of touched on what you think of Rousey as a fighter, and it’s nothing but praise, but some people are calling Rousey vs. Zingano “Ali vs. Frazier.” I think Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports actually made that comparison. Other people are saying Rousey is already a top-10 female athlete of all time. That’s not just fighter—top-10 female athlete. Do you think that’s fair, or is the hyperbole a little premature at this point?
DC: Again, you point to active, and you point to her rap sheet. You look at her rap sheet, she was a pro in judo. We all got the Sports Illustrated “Faces in the Crowd.” Ronda was in there as a baby. Then she goes on to be a two-time Olympian, and on the first Olympic team she was a kid, she was like 18 years old. She goes on to get a medal at the Olympics, and I’m not exactly sure, but I think she was the first American woman to actually win an Olympic medal (in judo).
From that to becoming the UFC champion, that’s two really high-level sports that she’s competed at and reached the pinnacle in those sports.
I believe she does compare. Because who are you comparing her to? You said “women athletes” of all time, but if I was to say, “Herschel Walker one of the greatest athletes of all time,” I would say, “He just might be.” The guy was a great football player, he was a track-and-field athlete, he was on the Olympic bobsled team and the guy has fought in mixed martial arts, so when you talk “athlete,” his rap sheet proves that Herschel Walker is one of the greatest athletes in the history of sports. So when it comes to that, yeah, I see Ronda comparing to everybody because her accomplishments are not specific to one sport.
B/R: We mentioned the historical significance of this bout earlier, but I think the history books might show there’s an asterisk beside this one. Originally, it was supposed to be (UFC middleweight champion Chris) Weidman vs. (Vitor) Belfort and also (Ronaldo) Jacare (Souza) and (Yoel) Romero were on the card. How big of a blow is losing those two fights to this card?
DC: Huge. Huge. And it’s not even just those two. (Frank) Mir and (Antonio) “Bigfoot” (Silva) were supposed to fight here too. So you’re supposed to have Weidman vs. Belfort, Rousey vs. Zingano, Jacare vs. Romero, Bigfoot vs. Mir and (Josh) Koscheck vs. (Jake) Ellenberger. That’s a huge fight card.
So what you did was one of two things. First, you say, “Ronda Rousey is big enough to carry this thing, so we’re staying the course. She’s the new main event.” Credit to Ronda’s star power. Second, you made UFC Fox in New Jersey stronger by adding Jacare vs. Romero on the (Luke) Rockhold vs. (Lyoto) Machida card, and then you made Memorial Day weekend the biggest UFC event since UFC 100.
Not only do you have (UFC light heavyweight champion Jon) Jones vs. (Anthony) Johnson, you’ve got Weidman vs. Belfort, too. So those two fights hurt this one, but they elevated two other fight cards, and it goes to show you how big this Los Angeles fight card actually was.
B/R: To the point of Rousey‘s star power, in the past her main events did pretty modest buyrates on pay-per-view. Is this the card where that changes? Is she bigger now than ever and is that going to change?
DC:This will be the tell, because her star has never shined so brightly. She’s in movies now, big movies, I mean, Fast and the Furious, Entourage—she’s everywhere. Ronda Rousey is recognizable. We, as athletes, we do media. But a select few get to do the Jimmy Kimmels and the Jay Lenos, and Ronda is one of those people who get to do all of that, so we’ll see.
This is the tell. She’s never been more popular, and there’s an opponent in front of her who people think can actually beat her. Look at what happened with Jones. When they thought I could beat him, we sold a ton of pay-per-views. When he fought Rashad (Evans), he sold a ton of pay-per-views. When they thought he was going to walk through people, pay-per-views didn’t do so good.
You got Ronda Rousey in a position now where they think this is a girl who can compete against her, she’s as popular as she’s ever been, and you’ll have to look at the numbers.
B/R: BelowRousey, in the co-main event, we have Holly Holm making her UFC debut, and it looks like the UFC is kind of gearing her up to be a big-time star as well. She’s looked phenomenal in the past, but as I remember you mentioning, the UFC jitters are a real thing. That stage is a little different. Do you expect to see a little more tentative, maybe nervous, version of her?
DC:Yeah, I think it’ll be a little bit different. It’ll be tough for Holly. This is something Holly never had expected. We talked to Holly on UFC Tonight on Wednesday, and she said herself, “I would have preferred to have been in a prelim fight as opposed to the co-main event, just to kind of get my feet wet. But you know what? It’s the co-main event, so it is what it is, and I’m going to go out there and compete like I always have.”
It’s a big stage. This place is going to be on fire by the time Holly walks to the Octagon, and we’re going to get to see what she’s made of. She’s got, I think, a bulldog in front of her. Raquel Pennington is not going to roll over for Holly Holm. She’s going to go in there and fight her. We’ll see exactly what Holly Holm is made of this weekend.
B/R: Pennington, like you said, is super tough, but if people just do a quick search of her, they see her record, and it’s pretty modest. It’s barely over .500. Does that hurt Holm‘s stock, the fact that maybe people don’t realize exactly what Pennington brings to the table?
DC: You know what, man? It’s all “what have you done for me lately?” She pulled that nasty bulldog choke off against (Ashlee) Evans-Smith last fight, she showed how tough she is to take that cut and continue to press forward and continue to fight like she did. Her stock is as high as it’s ever been. This is her moment. This is Raquel Pennington’s moment to do something special, something she probably never thought she could do. It’s a big moment for her, so we’ll see.
It doesn’t hurt Holly, though. When you’re a person who comes into an elite organization with any type of momentum behind you, you usually get a fight where the matchup is decent for you. And that’s exactly what Holly is getting this weekend.
B/R: In addition to this fight, we get an interesting bout, in my opinion, in Koscheck vs. Ellenberger. It’s not interesting to me because either guy is an immediate title challenger; it’s actually the total opposite. I feel like the guy who loses might be out of the UFC. What exactly is at stake here?
DC:I think everything is at stake. Honestly, for Ellenberger, I believe it’s his job. He needs to get it done. For Koscheck, I don’t believe that they’ll cut Josh Koscheck. He’s been so important to this organization, he’s worked so long in the UFC and I don’t think Koscheck would ever fight anywhere else. So if Koscheck doesn’t fight well in there and he’s at a crossroads, I believe he would retire.
Do I think it’s the time for Kos to retire? No. Keep things in perspective. I always tell people that. Josh Koscheck lost to (Tyron) Woodley, (Robbie) Lawler and (Johny) Hendricks. They’re ranked No. 1, 2 and 3 in the welterweight division.
We have to not just look at the record, and that was one of my biggest issues with the John Lineker vs. Ian McCall thing. McCall went and fought because he’s a man. But a year from now, it’ll be a loss on Ian McCall’s record and it’ll be a win on John Lineker‘s. People won’t say, “Oh, but the guy (Lineker) was overweight by 10 pounds.” It’ll be a win and a loss.
So you look at Koscheck, he’s lost three in a row, but you lose sight of the fact that he’s lost to the three best guys in the division. Let’s see how he does against a guy who’s in the same position as he is.
B/R: While you’ve never been in their position, specifically, on a long skid, you did just suffer your first professional loss, so maybe you can shed a little light here. What kind of emotions do you think they’re feeling, and how does losing fuel them? Is it motivating, depressing, a little of both?
DC:It’ll motivate them, because these guys are pros. They’ve not only competed in mixed martial arts, they’ve competed as wrestlers, too. So we’ve all dealt with losses. For me, it’s motivating. It makes me say, “I’m going to get better so I don’t feel this anymore.” I feel safe to speak for Koscheck in the same sense because I saw that guy become a four-time NCAA All-American, and I know Jake Ellenberger is a warrior, man. That guy won’t roll over.
So let’s see who shows up. Let’s see if Jake Ellenberger is in the moment. Sometimes Jake seems like he’s not really there. I don’t know why, but other times he’s there, and when he’s there, he’s on fire.
But these guys have been fighting the cream of the crop. …So these guys aren’t losing to duds. They’re so good, and their name carries so much value that they’re still getting to fight the best the division has to offer.
B/R: What’s a fight beyond these top three that you look at and say, “Man, this is a fight the fans just can’t miss. They have to tune in for this one”?
DC: It’s a good fight card, so there are a number of them. I want to see how (Norifumi) “Kid” Yamamoto does. He’s been out for a while, and we expected a ton from him when he first came to the UFC.
Alan Jouban vs. Richard Walsh is another great fight. I think the whole fight card is going to be fun, but if you’re looking for pure entertainment, tune to Derrick Lewis and Ruan Potts, because the Black Beast is the most aggressive human being I think I’ve ever seen step inside the Octagon.
Ruan Potts is 0-2 (in the UFC), and I think he might in a little trouble against Derrick Lewis this weekend. So if you’re looking for entertainment, one guy trying to knock the other guy’s head off, watch that one.
B/R: You can’t go wrong with the heavyweights for sure. To close out the interview, DC, I’m going to make some predictions, and I want you to tell me if I’m right or wrong and why. Sound good?
DC:Yep, that’s fine.
B/R: I think Ronda Rousey finishes Zingano before Round 3.
DC:I agree. I have to agree with that. She’s (Rousey) special.
B/R: Holly Holm wins against Raquel Pennington, but she wins via decision and it doesn’t necessarily set her up as the next great challenger for the title.
DC: You know what? I actually kind of agree with that one, too. I think she’s going to win, but I don’t know if you can put too many expectations on her. It’ll be hard to live up to the expectations set for her.
B/R: I think Koscheck actually gets back in the win column, fights one more time, then retires. What do you think?
DC:I agree, but you’re only saying that because you know I’m going to pick Koscheck. Nice try!
B/R: *Laughs* Hey, man, I have to make myself sound good, too. Last one: Despite the lack of big-time name recognition, I think this is going to be a great card, and I think at least half the fights end in finishes.
DC:I believe you will see a lot of finishes this weekend, yes. I believe that.
B/R: Perfect. Thank you for the time, DC. Have a great one.
A critical light heavyweight fight between Daniel Cormier and Ryan Bader has been announced, and it will likely serve as the headline for UFC Fight Night on June 6.
The announcement was made on Twitter:
It’s official! Daniel Cormier vs Ryan …
A critical light heavyweight fight between Daniel Cormier and Ryan Bader has been announced, and it will likely serve as the headline for UFC Fight Night on June 6.
Cormier is fresh off a lopsided loss to Jon Jones at UFC 182. While the bout was a blockbuster success, it is likely an affair Cormier would prefer to forget, as he was outclassed in the cage by the longtime light heavyweight champion. That said, his Olympic wrestling credentials and formidable kickboxing keep him ranked among the 205-pound division’s elite.
Bader, on the other hand, is a fighter that has long stood just outside of title contention. With strong wrestling chops of his own and a potent ground-and-pound style, Bader has long been a tough out for his light heavyweight peers.
However, contenders like Jones, LyotoMachida and Glover Teixeira have consistently found ways to put Bader away before the final buzzer. Recently, however, he has become something of a contender due to his four-fight winning streak, which ranks among the best in the division. If he can manage to defeat Cormier, it will be hard to argue against a title shot for the 16-fight UFC veteran.
Cormier is likely to open the bout as a huge favorite, given his elite status and Bader‘s well-documented struggles with top-level competition. While Bader‘s fairly dominant wins over Strikeforce veterans Ovince Saint Preux and Rafael Cavalcante, as well as his most recent victory over Phil Davis, give him a strong resume on paper, Cormier likely owns the edge in both pure wrestling and striking.
Beyond the date, network and the Cormier vs. Bader bout, there are currently no details regarding the UFC’s June 6 event. Stick with Bleacher Report for more announcements on the card as they become available.
LAS VEGAS — Daniel Cormier stood backstage, moments away from making the most important walk of his athletic career.
He’d trained for this moment since the day his local high school wrestling coach pulled him off the street and tossed him into a …
LAS VEGAS — Daniel Cormier stood backstage, moments away from making the most important walk of his athletic career.
He’d trained for this moment since the day his local high school wrestling coach pulled him off the street and tossed him into a wrestling room, where his life would change forever. Through all of the heartbreak, through the failed attempts at winning Olympic gold, Cormier had just one thing on his mind: being the best in the world.
He had never reached his goal in wrestling. He was famously forced to pull out of the Olympics in 2008 after a weight cut gone bad. But finally, he had his chance.
It is perhaps a fighter cliche, but Cormier had trained harder than ever. He was ready. And he believed in himself and in his skills.
Tonight, he would win the UFC light heavyweight championship from the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He’d never been more confident of anything in his life.
And so he paced back and forth, deep in the bowels of the MGM Grand Garden Arena, waiting for his music to hit the loudspeakers. His closed his eyes and played the fight out in his head. He imagined the way things would go. He had imagined this night for years and now, the time was finally here.
“It was just like, finally. I get to do this fight,” Cormier told Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview. “Finally, it’s the moment I’ve been waiting for. Let’s go. Let’s do it.”
Cormier walked to the Octagon. Jones followed. Bruce Buffer made the official announcements, and the fight began.
A myth about Jones was quickly dispelled. People told Cormier the lightweight champion had no punching power; Jones has never knocked an opponent out, and that is apparently all you need to know in order to pass judgment on whether someone punches hard or not. Early in the fight, Jones landed a punch on Cormier, and the challenger thought: Well, that was a pretty hard punch.
“He hit me with a punch early. It was either a left hook or a superman punch-type left hand. And I was like, ‘That was a lot harder than I expected,'” Cormier said. “I didn’t expect him to hit that hard. But he hits pretty hard. It didn’t hurt me, but I actually felt it more than I thought I would.”
Cormier‘s game plan, rehearsed in countless practices at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California, was simple: get inside Jones’ mammoth 84.5″ reach and do it quickly. Jones is a master of all mixed martial arts skills, but no tool in his arsenal is more effective than his understanding of his length and how to use it. For Cormier to stand a chance of winning, he had to close the gap and make Jones work inside, where Cormier‘s team felt he would have an advantage.
Cormier was able to execute his game plan. He closed distance well and spent plenty of time up close and personal with Jones.
“I thought I was able to do everything I intended on doing. I did all the things we prepared to do. I think we put a lot more emphasis on his length in training, and distance wasn’t an issue for me,” Cormier said. “I was able to get in pretty close fairly easy. He did a good job of using his reach, but it wasn’t hard to close the distance on him.”
As the fight wore on, Cormier began scoring the fight in his head. He could feel himself landing punches on Jones, and he felt Jones doing damage to him.
“I thought we were both doing really good damage, so I thought ‘This is real competitive,'” Cormier said.
In the fourth round, Cormier decided to cruise. He figured he was winning two rounds to one (giving himself the second and third rounds) and thought he could give away the fourth round but seal the victory by winning the fifth round.
“I figured that even if he won the fourth round, all I needed to do was win the fifth round and I would win the championship,” he said. “I thought those rounds were pretty clear in my favor, but obviously they weren’t. After watching it back, they were very competitive. They were close rounds. I thought I won the second and third rounds, and he won the first, fourth and fifth.”
At the end of the fight, Jones was awarded a unanimous-decision win. All three judges scored the fight 49-46 in his favor. Cormier was obviously and visibly crushed and took several days off before watching a replay of the fight.
What he saw on tape was both discouraging and encouraging at the same time. He still felt he’d won the second and third rounds, with Jones taking the others. He noticed that Jones put a heavy emphasis on delivering strikes to Cormier‘s body early in the fight, and that investment paid off in later rounds.
“Kicks, punches. He did really good work on the body. He made that investment early, and it caught up to me in the fifth round. It allowed him to dictate the clinches. The clinch is a position I usually always win,” Cormier said. “He was able to win those because he wore me down with his body work early.”
Cormier also noticed Jones’ superior usage of wrist control, which allowed the champion to further control the clinch.
“I can’t let him do that again,” he said.
Another Jones myth that was dispelled for Cormier: the idea of Jones being a dirty fighter.
“That’s him being a competitor. I think I do the same thing. Early in the fight, I grabbed the inside of his glove as we were clinching. And then he started doing the same thing to me, but he did it over and over,” he said. “But I don’t knock him for that. We are both trying to find an advantage.”
Cormier also felt that Jones’ controversial oblique kicks—straight and side kicks thrown at his opponent’s knees—were overblown. He’d prepared to defend the kicks with a slight lift of his lead leg and felt he did a good job of executing that defense in the fight.
“If you prepare for them, they aren’t that big of a deal. He never really straightened my leg. It’s not Jon’s job to go away from a move that has been so effective for him. Learn to defend it,” Cormier said. “To me, that leg kick is not dirty. It really did nothing to me, and I’ve got bad knees. Just by lifting your leg and not being so flat-footed, it doesn’t allow him to hyperextend your knees.
“I don’t think he’s dirty. I think when he ended up poking my face, that was just an accident. It only happened once,” he said. “I don’t think he’s a dirty fighter. I think he’s a guy looking for advantages, just like I was.”
After the loss, Cormier took time off from the gym. He resumed his duties for Fox Sports and found the time to film All About That Cake, a spoof on Meghan Trainor’s popular song “All About That Bass.” After completing the filming, Cormier nearly pulled the plug on the video entirely.
“I was like, this is kinda bad. But then I decided it was fun. I enjoyed doing it,” he said. When the video aired at the World MMA Awards, Cormier squirmed in his seat, expecting the audience to think the video was horrible. Instead, they roared with laughter.
A few days later, the producers of the awards show posted the video on YouTube. The video went viral, and Cormier found himself at the center of a smash hit. His daughter, a fan of the original song, now walks around the Cormier house singing her father’s version instead.
On Monday, Cormier returned to the gym to resume training alongside partners Luke Rockhold and Cain Velasquez. Despite UFC President Dana White‘s statement that he has an opponent in mind for Cormier, the Louisiana native has not been contacted about a potential fight. He believes, however, that it will be either Glover Teixeira, Ryan Bader or Rashad Evans.
The loss to Jones still stings, but it also made Cormier even more sure of one thing: that he has the skills to beat Jones and that he’ll do so if given another chance.
“Jon won that fight. But after the fight, I have no doubt in my mind that I can beat that man. Nothing has changed. If we fought again, I feel like I will be even more confident that I can get the job done,” Cormier said. “He did not beat me. He won the fight. He did not beat me up, and I did not beat him up. We were in a very competitive, hard fight. And if anyone believes that it was anything different, go back and watch it again and you’ll feel a little different after watching it.”
Mere logic would put top contenders Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson in a bout to determine the next title contender, but obviously, the UFC has other things in mind for the light heavyweight division.
During the UFC 183 post-fight press confere…
Mere logic would put top contenders Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson in a bout to determine the next title contender, but obviously, the UFC has other things in mind for the light heavyweight division.
During the UFC 183 post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White confirmed that bouts for both Cormier and Gustafsson had already been booked.
“Cormier’s got another fight set up right now and we actually have another fight for Gustafsson, too,” said White. “After those two fight these fights, it makes sense.”
Gustafsson is likely still shaking off the cobwebs after a first-round thrashing to Anthony Johnson. The surprising loss sent the Swedish contender tumbling down the light heavyweight ranks, and it put Johnson in the No. 1 contender’s spot to challenge Jon Jones for the UFC title.
Cormier, on the other hand, was turned back by the champ in his bid for UFC gold in early January. During an appearance on The MMA Hour, Cormier hinted at a potential fight with Gustafsson, claiming it was the fight that made the most sense.
The UFC once again sidestepping a fight between light heavyweight contenders won’t sit well with Jones. The UFC light heavyweight champ has stated several times that he isn’t happy with top contenders bypassing bouts against other top contenders for a title shot. Cormier, Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira all received title shots without having to go through at least one top-five contender.
“I feel like they save all the dogs for me, and they just give the toughest guys the easiest matchups to get a title shot,” said Jones. “Let’s see some of these top contenders fight each other.”
The opponents and fight dates for Cormier and Gustafsson have yet to be announced by the UFC. But from the looks of things, Jones could be gearing up to fight a recycled murderer’s row of contenders.
JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon and FanRag Sports.
Daniel “DC” Cormier is committed to learning from his mistakes.
After a five-round battle with UFC light heavyweight king Jon Jones at UFC 182, Cormier was left beaten, battered and bruised. For the first time in his professional mixed martial ar…
Daniel “DC” Cormier is committed to learning from his mistakes.
After a five-round battle with UFC light heavyweight king Jon Jones at UFC 182, Cormier was left beaten, battered and bruised. For the first time in his professional mixed martial arts career, Cormier‘s hand was not raised by the end of his contest.
The sting was real. But it’s something he says he needs.
Speaking on a recent episode of The MMA Hour, Cormier said he’s rewatched his fight with Jones several times because he needs to feel the burn it brings. Only that can fuel him to fix his mistakes and to move on more motivated than ever.
“I’ve watched it 100 times,” Cormier said (h/t MMAFighting.com for the transcription). “It has to burn. It has to feel so bad. It has to punch you in the gut every time you watch it.”
When watching the fight, Cormier says he saw one man execute his game plan and one man disappear into a shell of who he should have been. The latter man was himself, and he views this as a major reason for his loss.
Among the factors contributing to the defeat, Cormier noted the absence of a superstar teammate and training partner, Cain Velasquez.
Usually a key sparring partner for Cormier, the UFC heavyweight champ was unable to help DC prepare for his UFC 182 main event due to a knee injury. Cormier confirmed this played a major role in his eventual demise.
“It was a very big deal not having Cain,” Cormier said. “Because Cain, you need those days where you’re in the gym and, you know, you don’t just have success, you get beat up. There are days Cain will just beat me up and I needed something like that in preparation for Jones.”
In his fight with Jones, Cormier faded in the championship rounds, getting outstruck 27-7 in the final two frames. He gave up three takedowns to the champ—two in Round 4—as well, something no opponent had been able to do to him up to that point.
While the presence of a star like Velasquez in the gym is undoubtedly huge, the heavyweight champ is particularly noted for his insane cardio and for his relentless pressure—the two areas Cormier is most critical of when breaking down his bout against Jones.
With a relatively shallow 205-pound division, Cormier might just get his chance to prove what he can do against Jones with a perfect camp behind him in the near future.
Or we might just get to see how Jones fares against Velasquez himself.
Should he defeat Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in his next title defense, Jones will have cleared out the division, and he’s long teased a jump to heavyweight. One more win could finally push him over the edge and into the world of the (really) big boys.
What do you think? Was Cormier‘s lack of success due to not having Velasquez in his training camp, or is Jones just that good?
Jon Jones and Anthony Johnson had everyone eating out of the palm of their hands after staging a fake fight at Saturday’s “UFC: Welcome to the Show” press conference.