Tag: daniel cormier

Jon Jones on UFC 182 Game Plan: ‘I Will Try to Wrestle Daniel Cormier’

Unlike ancient philosopher Sun Tzu, who immortalized the notion of attacking an enemy’s weakness, Jon Jones and Greg Jackson believe that besting an opponent in his respective area of expertise represents the easiest path to reaching a breaking point.
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Unlike ancient philosopher Sun Tzu, who immortalized the notion of attacking an enemy’s weakness, Jon Jones and Greg Jackson believe that besting an opponent in his respective area of expertise represents the easiest path to reaching a breaking point.

So when Jones faces arguably his stiffest test inside the Octagon at UFC 182 on January 3, expect the light-heavyweight champ and pound-for-pound king to test second-ranked Daniel Cormier at his strong suit: wrestling.

During an interview over the weekend with MMAFighting.com’s Shaun Al-Shatti, Jones talked about his ability to adapt to his foes’ strengths and his plan to go after Cormier‘s strengths and weaknesses.

I think I focus on it so much, I focus on their strengths so much that I almost adapt it. I become so familiar with what they’re good at that I just almost adapt it into my psychology, into my skillset, and then subconsciously it just starts playing out in the fight. Doing what they do.

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.

Jackson, Jones’ head trainer and the co-owner of Team Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico, explained why he agrees that Bones should attempt to out-wrestle Cormier, a two-time former Olympian in freestyle wrestling who was named Team USA’s captain for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

We’re definitely going to try to wrestle Daniel, there’s no doubt. We’re trying to beat him everywhere. The kind of inception of that mentality started actually way back when I was working with Georges (St-Pierre), and he took down (Josh) Koscheck. Sun Tzu always has this thing where he says ‘Always attack your enemies weaknesses.’ But that’s not true. If you have the ability to attack your opponent’s strength, the psychological breaking process is much faster than if you’re just attacking his weaknesses.

Since making his debut with Strikeforce in 2009, Cormier has stuffed each of the 11 shots he’s faced, including three shots from former two-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler, Patrick Cummins.

Jones denied the first 16 shots he faced in his brilliant UFC tenure before allowing top-ranked Alexander Gustafsson to tally a takedown at UFC 165 in September 2013. Gustafsson, however, finished just one of his eight takedown attempts in that fight.

The unbeaten Cormier has amassed 18 takedowns in his 12 fights since signing with Strikeforce, including three in his last bout against former Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler Dan Henderson.

In his 15 scraps in the UFC, eight of which were light-heavyweight title fights, Jones has totaled 30 takedowns. 

Cormier (15-0) improved to 4-0 in the UFC after thrashing former Strikeforce and PRIDE FC champ Henderson at UFC 173 in May. Cormier has piled up a 12-0 record under the Zuffa banner.

Jones (20-1) holds a 14-1 UFC record, with his lone loss coming via disqualification against Matt Hamill in December 2009.

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Jon Jones Wants You to Know That He is the *Real* Victim of All This UFC 182 Fight Hype

(“Hey pussy, are you still there?” via…who are we kidding, it’s already been taken down.)

The lead-up to Jon Jones‘ title tilt with Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 has been an unusually heated affair for the long-standing light heavyweight champion. While we’ve seen Jones irked in the past, we’ve never seen him break kayfabe in the form of a full-on fist fight at a press conference before, which usually marks the beginning of a new chapter in a person’s life. The beef between Bones and Cormier appears to be legitimate and has earned the matchup a ton of additional eyes, so it would be a huge mistake on the UFC’s part *not* to use this hate-filled storyline to market the fight, right? Especially while in the midst of a(nother) pay-per-view slump?

The Grudge Match™ has been one of the most reliable marketing gimmicks of the Zuffa era — second only to “If ___ beats ___, then pound-for-pound.” — and surely a scheme that will likely earn Jones a hefty bump in his cut of the PPV revenue. But according to the champ himself, all the money in the world isn’t worth everyone knowing that he is a two-faced, fakey fakerson. (Ed note: Sorry, my 7-year-old nephew is in town for the holidays and keeps jacking my laptop.)

As Bones recently told UFC Tonight (via MMAMania):

When I first saw [the now infamous ad for UFC 182] I was a little offended by it. That UFC — someone who is supposed to be backing my brand and making me look good — would put up something like that for the general public to see. I don’t think it’s really healthy for the world to see their champion — for the world to see UFC’s champion — saying I would kill someone. That really took me off guard. I didn’t really think it was in my best interest, but it was for UFC’s best interest, so I kind of had to swallow my pride. I said it.


(“Hey pussy, are you still there?” via…who are we kidding, it’s already been taken down.)

The lead-up to Jon Jones‘ title tilt with Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 has been an unusually heated affair for the long-standing light heavyweight champion. While we’ve seen Jones irked in the past, we’ve never seen him break kayfabe in the form of a full-on fist fight at a press conference before, which usually marks the beginning of a new chapter in a person’s life. The beef between Bones and Cormier appears to be legitimate and has earned the matchup a ton of additional eyes, so it would be a huge mistake on the UFC’s part *not* to use this hate-filled storyline to market the fight, right? Especially while in the midst of a(nother) pay-per-view slump?

The Grudge Match™ has been one of the most reliable marketing gimmicks of the Zuffa era — second only to “If ___ beats ___, then pound-for-pound.” — and surely a scheme that will likely earn Jones a hefty bump in his cut of the PPV revenue. But according to the champ himself, all the money in the world isn’t worth everyone knowing that he is a two-faced, fakey fakerson. (Ed note: Sorry, my 7-year-old nephew is in town for the holidays and keeps jacking my laptop.)

As Bones recently told UFC Tonight (via MMAMania):

When I first saw [the now infamous ad for UFC 182] I was a little offended by it. That UFC — someone who is supposed to be backing my brand and making me look good — would put up something like that for the general public to see. I don’t think it’s really healthy for the world to see their champion — for the world to see UFC’s champion — saying I would kill someone. That really took me off guard. I didn’t really think it was in my best interest, but it was for UFC’s best interest, so I kind of had to swallow my pride. I said it.

Oh, so you don’t wike it dat da UFC is makin’ you wook bad? WELL LOOK AT POWAH WITTLE JAWN. (Ed note: God dammit, Milo! You know that our WordPress can’t handle all these edits!!)

Knock Jones all you want, but you simply have to respect his consistency when it comes to shirking all responsibility for an incident he played a definitive role in and then martyring himself after the fact. For Christ’s sake, Jones said he was caught off guard…by the things he said! What a world!

“I, Jon Jones, am truly the victim here. Yeah, I might have threatened a man’s life on live television moments after starting a fight that I definitely wasn’t proud of, but for the UFC to promote my fight with those things I said and did? To make money? WON’T YOU THINK OF THE CHILDREN, DANA!!!!”

Who knows, maybe this interview was just the latest in what has been a series of blatantly trollish moves by the light heavyweight champion. But if Jones really is still banking on the idea that the masses will suddenly accept him as a genuine, down-to-earth guy at this point in his career, than maybe he’s not trolling us at all. Maybe Jon Jones is just f*cking crazy. And I honestly, I like crazy (minus that whole “defending Bill Cosby” thing).

I guess it isn’t really worth putting that much thought into. If Jones beats DC on January 4th, he’ll probably come out saying what a “really smart personal career decision” this whole thing was and everyone will somehow find it in them to hate him even more.

–J. Jones

Jon Jones Receives Random Drug Test Ahead of UFC 182 Fight with Daniel Cormier

It seems as if the Nevada State Athletic Commission is testing to make sure none of the bad blood between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier has led to bad blood within the champion himself. 
Jones, who is currently training for his eighth straight titl…

It seems as if the Nevada State Athletic Commission is testing to make sure none of the bad blood between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier has led to bad blood within the champion himself. 

Jones, who is currently training for his eighth straight title defense against Cormier at UFC 182, was paid a random visit by the NSAC to conduct a random drug test, according to Jones’ Instagram account. 

Jones’ photo caption read:

“The Nevada State athletic commission just stopped by my house and hit me with that random.. Only thing I’m on is that #PHW pure hard work! They are probably wondering how my chicken legs are so strong. I’ve had a few @muscletech products but that’s all legal :)”

It’s likely Cormier gets tested before the fight as well. Considering the former United States Olympian was comfortable with being tested before, seeing his reaction to the UFC and the athletic commissions taking a firmer stand against performance-enhancing drug use wasn’t very surprising.

As far as Jones has publicly admitted, this is the second straight title defense in which he’s been tested—the first coming during his UFC 172 training camp for his bout against now-No. 6 light heavyweight Glover Teixeira. 

The champ went out of his way to publicly request the test the first time around, claiming a hunger for more transparency in his title fights. He told Ariel Helwani on UFC Tonight (h/t MMAJunkie.com) back in April: 

It was something me and my management team asked for several months ago. We thought it would be great to make sure everyone was playing fair in this fight. I’m not accusing my opponent of anything, but it’d just be great to see. … I just think it’d be great to know that the athletes that are competing are competing clean. I’ve never taken any kind of performance-enhancing drug and I don’t think any of my opponents should. I know that I’ve probably fought people in the past that have, and I’ve still come up with a way to win, but I just think it’s important that it goes away.

Jones and Cormier will take the center of the Octagon on Jan. 3 in Las Vegas. 

 

Kristian Ibarra is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report MMA. He also serves as the sports editor at San Diego State University’s student-run newspaper, The Daily Aztec. Follow him on Twitter at @Kristian_Ibarra for all things MMA. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Watch the UFC 182 Extended Preview Because Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier Hate Each Other and Myles Jury Is Out of Lollipops or Something

(Props: UFC on YouTube)

And here we have the nine-minute extended video trailer for UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier, which goes down January 3rd in Las Vegas. The verbal beefin’ between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier is nothing new, but hey, there’s more of it here. Plus, we get a segment on the lightweight co-main between undefeated 26-year-old Myles Jury and red-hot veteran Donald Cerrone. Myles Jury kind of seems like a real-life version of that “bring a rocket-launcher” guy from the NOS commercials. As for Cerrone…well, you already know who that dude is.


(Props: UFC on YouTube)

And here we have the nine-minute extended video trailer for UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier, which goes down January 3rd in Las Vegas. The verbal beefin’ between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier is nothing new, but hey, there’s more of it here. Plus, we get a segment on the lightweight co-main between undefeated 26-year-old Myles Jury and red-hot veteran Donald Cerrone. Myles Jury kind of seems like a real-life version of that “bring a rocket-launcher” guy from the NOS commercials. As for Cerrone…well, you already know who that dude is.

UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier — The Official “Hey Pussy, Are You Still There?” Trailer [VIDEO]

(Props: MiddleEasy)

I don’t know what else to call this thing. It incorporates so much about Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier‘s rivalry — the aggressive trash-talk, the infamous casino lobby brawl, the MMA quote of the year. After their long-awaited light-heavyweight title fight was postponed the first time due to Jones suffering an injury, it’s finally going to happen at UFC 182, January 3rd in Las Vegas.

Watch the official trailer above, which aired Saturday night during UFC 181, and get appropriately hyped.


(Props: MiddleEasy)

I don’t know what else to call this thing. It incorporates so much about Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier‘s rivalry — the aggressive trash-talk, the infamous casino lobby brawl, the MMA quote of the year. After their long-awaited light-heavyweight title fight was postponed the first time due to Jones suffering an injury, it’s finally going to happen at UFC 182, January 3rd in Las Vegas.

Watch the official trailer above, which aired Saturday night during UFC 181, and get appropriately hyped.

UFC Utopia: Ranking the 15 Best Fights Between UFC 181 and UFC 184

The UFC is set for a historic run of top-notch fight cards. Ten events will take us through the end of 2014 and to the beginning of 2015.
What are the best fights you’ll have to watch? That’s what we are here to tell you.
The UFC has been criticized as…

The UFC is set for a historic run of top-notch fight cards. Ten events will take us through the end of 2014 and to the beginning of 2015.

What are the best fights you’ll have to watch? That’s what we are here to tell you.

The UFC has been criticized as of late for poor events, but that won’t be the case over the next three months. They have loaded the next 90 days with a fantastic slate of fights for us all.

Exciting stylistic matchups, title tilts and much more help round out the action. This isn’t a scientific list, and you may have your own favorite upcoming fights. Title bouts and interesting storylines helped to elevate some matchups up the list.

This ranking features fights in seven different weight classes.

These are the top 15 fights you’ll see starting Saturday through February’s UFC 184 pay-per-view.

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