Tag: daniel cormier

Daniel Cormier Comments on Canceled Fight with Jon Jones

Daniel Cormier is going to have to wait awhile to get his hands on Jon Jones.
While the former Olympic wrestler-turned-mixed martial artist and the reigning light heavyweight king were set to collide at UFC 178 on Sept. 27, “Bones” suffered an injury d…

Daniel Cormier is going to have to wait awhile to get his hands on Jon Jones.

While the former Olympic wrestler-turned-mixed martial artist and the reigning light heavyweight king were set to collide at UFC 178 on Sept. 27, “Bones” suffered an injury during training camp and was forced to withdraw from the fight. The news broke Tuesday on Fox Sports 1, and this turn of events puts the freeze on some serious heat built up between the two fighters as of late.

Last week during a two-city press tour for their showdown in Las Vegas, Jones and Cormier came to blows during a routine faceoff. The scuffle dominated headlines across the MMA media landscape and instantly made their upcoming 205-pound title tilt the most anticipated fight of the year.

Yet, with Jones now nursing an injury and the fight projected to be pushed back to UFC 182 on Jan. 3, the hottest scrap of the year lost its pulse for the time being.

And while “D.C.” is undoubtedly disappointed, he believes the bout being delayed will hopefully help put fans’ perspective on what will happen inside the cage and not the grudge that exists between the two men on the outside. 

Following the report of Jones’ injury, the AKA staple talked to America’s Pregame about having to wait to have his shot at the pound-for-pound great.

I think people recognize that it’s a big fight. I think by January, people will understand, and maybe people will stop thinking about us fighting on stage or getting caught cussing each other when the cameras were on.

“You’ve got two of the best fighters in the world competing for the light heavyweight championship, so maybe it will let some of this time die down, people worrying about the stuff outside the cage and focus on the fact that in 37 fights, Jon Jones has not lost two rounds combined. But in terms of fan interest, people were excited about this fight, and I’m glad that they’re still going to get the fight.

In addition to the matchup being off the radar for awhile, the rescheduling will also give Cormier time to give some attention to a lingering knee injury.

Following his dominant win over Dan Henderson back in May, the Louisiana native revealed he had been dealing with a partially torn ACL that he was going to have surgically repaired when the next shot at the light heavyweight title was going to Alexander Gustafsson. But “The Mauler” suffered an injury of his own and was forced out of his rematch with Jones, which caused the UFC to tap the former heavyweight-turned-205-pound contender.

With his long-awaited title shot now in hand, the 35-year-old decided to put off the corrective surgery until after his bout with Jones because the scheduled recovery time would keep him from competing on Jan. 3. 

Outside of his own physical situation, upon hearing the news of Jones’ injury, Cormier was concerned the Swedish striker would jump back in to replace him in the title picture. Yet, once the UFC brass confirmed this was not to be the case, Cormier turned his thoughts to wishing the current champion would have battled through the injury and toughed it out to face him.

I would be outside of myself to not say I went into this fight knowing my knee was pretty jacked up, and I was going to fight through it to get a title. I’ll get a full training camp now. When I heard Jon was hurt, now him and Gustafsson are on the same schedule in order to be healthy. So my first question was, ‘I don’t have to go behind Gustafsson again now, right?’ And I was assured that it’s going to be me in January. He’s not going to take my place again.”

“I don’t know the extent of his injuries, and if it’s really bad, I’ll take it back. But on the surface, I heard he hurt himself. But people hear ACL, they think you’re out for a year. I’ve been hurt, and I’ve been training. I wish he would have just fought. I’m saying tough it out sometimes. Sometimes you’ve got to go in there and tough it out and just fight.

  

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

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Jon Jones Injures Leg, Fight With Daniel Cormier Moved to UFC 182 on January 3rd [FUUUUUUUUUUCK]


(Yeah, “postponed.” Like we don’t all know what that really means.)

Let’s be honest, the past 24 hours have been nothing short of miserable for us. And by “us” I mean, like, humanity. It has been a day that saw beloved actor/comedian Robin Williams pass and woman-beating piece of shit War Machine (see also: Oden, G) continue to sit somewhere inhaling air (Canada, maybe?). It was a day which all but confirmed that atheism is the right way to go. And now, this bullshit.

Thanks to an ill-timed “leg injury” (that is being reported as everything from a torn meniscus to a sprained ankle, or possibly both), Jon Jones has been forced out of his UFC 178 main event title fight with Daniel Cormier. As a result, the fight has been moved to UFC 182 at the MGM Grand on January 3rd.

Taking the place of Jones vs. Cormier in the main event of UFC 178 will be Demetrious Johnson‘s flyweight title fight against Chris Cariaso, which if you recall, was originally booked as the *co* main event of UFC 177. In one fell swoop, UFC 178’s estimated pay-per-view buys have gone from 1 million+ guaranteed to 250k if it’s lucky. But I can’t wait to see how the UFC tries to sell me this one as worthy of $60 (Hint: It rhymes with Conor McGregor. It’s Conor McGregor.)

No word yet if Jones’ injury is a delayed reaction from getting hit by Cormier’s *other* shoe as I speculate, but one thing’s for sure: Bones won’t be literally killing anyone anytime soon.

We’ll update you on this story as it develops.

–J. Jones


(Yeah, “postponed.” Like we don’t all know what that really means.)

Let’s be honest, the past 24 hours have been nothing short of miserable for us. And by “us” I mean, like, humanity. It has been a day that saw beloved actor/comedian Robin Williams pass and woman-beating piece of shit War Machine (see also: Oden, G) continue to sit somewhere inhaling air (Canada, maybe?). It was a day which all but confirmed that atheism is the right way to go. And now, this bullshit.

Thanks to an ill-timed “leg injury” (that is being reported as everything from a torn meniscus to a sprained ankle, or possibly both), Jon Jones has been forced out of his UFC 178 main event title fight with Daniel Cormier. As a result, the fight has been moved to UFC 182 at the MGM Grand on January 3rd.

Taking the place of Jones vs. Cormier in the main event of UFC 178 will be Demetrious Johnson‘s flyweight title fight against Chris Cariaso, which if you recall, was originally booked as the *co* main event of UFC 177. In one fell swoop, UFC 178′s estimated pay-per-view buys have gone from 1 million+ guaranteed to 250k if it’s lucky. But I can’t wait to see how the UFC tries to sell me this one as worthy of $60 (Hint: It rhymes with Conor McGregor. It’s Conor McGregor.)

No word yet if Jones’ injury is a delayed reaction from getting hit by Cormier’s *other* shoe as I speculate, but one thing’s for sure: Bones won’t be literally killing anyone anytime soon.

We’ll update you on this story as it develops.

–J. Jones

Jon Jones Uncensored: Why the Reserved UFC Champ Is Suddenly Losing His Cool

For my money, the best part of last week’s instantly infamous off-air SportsCenter squabble between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier comes before either of them even utters a word.
The death threats and trash talk are fine—to borrow a phrase fr…

For my money, the best part of last week’s instantly infamous off-air SportsCenter squabble between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier comes before either of them even utters a word.

The death threats and trash talk are fine—to borrow a phrase from Nick Diaz, it’s whatever—but the truly golden moment of this exchange emerges the instant Jones decides he’s going to go in on Cormier. You can see it as he fiddles his earpiece into place, a little grin creeping across his face before he opens his mouth and says: “Hey p—y, are you still there?”

And for a moment even Cormier has to laugh.

Whether Jones knew this recording would eventually become public or not, that one mischievous half smile tells us everything we need to know about how the light heavyweight champion is approaching this fight. With their mega-bout looming at UFC 178 on Sept. 27, it’s no accident the notoriously aloof Jones is picking this moment to abruptly lose his cool.

After spending years carefully painting a picture of himself as reserved and overly calculated, the Octagon’s 27-year-old fighting genius is suddenly throwing UFC PR reps through press conference sets in his haste to get to Cormier.

A guy who historically has been loath to even look his opponents in the eye during staredowns is suddenly eager to get all up in this one’s personal space, provoking on-stage brawls—shoes thrown, cellphones lost—and leaving the world to pick through the footage like it’s the Zapruder film.

This guy who normally greets his foes’ feeble prefight jousts with a shrug and a knowing sigh is suddenly off the rails. He’s tossed out his own playbook, or is at least significantly rewriting it in an effort to sell this fight or get in Cormier’s head—or a combination of both.

It’s a jarring contrast to the cloying, self-righteous Jones who more often than not has rubbed a lot of MMA fans the wrong way since winning the title in March 2011, but it’s not completely unexpected either.

Back in April, I noted that Jones appeared to be coming out of his shell a bit. In the wake of his easy-peasy victory over Glover Teixeira at UFC 172, he’d begun mocking the haters in Instagram videos he posted and quickly deleted. You could still see him carefully parsing his answers in interviews, but cracks were starting to show around the edges of his carefully constructed public persona.

Soon after Cormier was announced as a replacement for the injured Alexander Gustafsson last month, those cracks became gushers.

Jones turned a corner from sly, simpering backbiting to unabashed verbal warfare. While it seems off-base to say the champion has “gone full heel” (as is the unfortunate parlance of our times), it’s obvious he’s made the conscious choice to get in Cormier’s face—both literally and figuratively—in a way we’ve not seen leading up to his previous fights.

Granted, these two have history, and Cormier specifically called Jones out after a victory over Dan Henderson at UFC 173, but it feels like there is more at work here than simple bad blood or straightforward dollars and cents. Considering how exacting Jones has been thus far in his career, it seems unlikely he’d go as far as a public brawl just to prop up a pay-per-view buyrate or teach Cormier who’s boss.

Jones is nothing if not conscious of his bottom line, but I doubt he’d risk all the work he’s put into his image—not to mention those high-profile Nike and Gatorade sponsorships—simply because he and DC don’t like each other.

No, something else is obviously going on.

Perhaps for the first time in Jones’ six-year UFC career we’re seeing how he reacts when he feels threatened.

When he feels nervous.

It’s likely Jones knows as well as we all do that this Cormier fight is special. Provided the challenger’s injured knee is as much of a non-issue as he says it is, he shapes up as not only Jones’ most lucrative fight as 205-pound champion, but his toughest test as well.

So far, Jones has manhandled nearly all of his light heavyweight opponents while barely breaking a sweat. He had a close call against Gustafsson last September but had approached their rematch with a confidence that said it wouldn’t be nearly as close the second time around.

Cormier, though, is a different animal. This is a guy who spent the first 13 fights of his undefeated career blowing past heavyweights. This is a guy who picked up Josh Barnett and body-slammed him. This is a guy whose Olympic wrestling credentials are a world beyond what Jones accomplished as a junior college All-American.

Jones is the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world for a reason, and it seems inconceivable that he would ever get outgunned in a 205-pound fight. But if you were going to dream up a current fighter who might be able to give him a run for his money, it would be a healthy, well-prepared Cormier.

It could be that Jones shifting into ultra alpha-male mode leading up to this fight is a product of his feeling vulnerable by Cormier’s sudden entry into the division.

In any case, what we’re seeing now is a beefed-up, edgier version of Bones we’ve never witnessed before, at least in public. In fact, it feels as though he’s finally showing us the guy he’d taken such pains to hide all those years.

Perhaps—if we’re very lucky—these next couple of months will reveal more than we thought we’d ever get to know about the guarded pound-for-pound great.

We might even get to see him sweat.

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Martial Arts Fail of the Week: Smear Shit on Yourself to Prevent Rape

Rape prevention is a serious topic and a noble endeavor but the guys in this video have pretty much no clue about it.

Many of the techniques are “street” techniques that simply assume someone is going to let you eye gouge them or hit them in the balls without doing anything–like they’ll just stand there and let you do it. To quote Daniel Cormier, “Do you think I’m just gonna sit there and let you kill me?”

Anyway, these guys are basically peddling martial arts snake oil–or snake excrement. That’s right, shitting and pissing yourself is among the techniques they advocate. They also suggest rubbing shit on your arms and on your face, a Martial Arts Fail of the Week first.

Get a rundown of who these guys are (and what popular movie one of them was in) after the jump.

Rape prevention is a serious topic and a noble endeavor but the guys in this video have pretty much no clue about it.

Many of the techniques are “street” techniques that simply assume someone is going to let you eye gouge them or hit them in the balls without doing anything–like they’ll just stand there and let you do it. To quote Daniel Cormier, “Do you think I’m just gonna sit there and let you kill me?”

Anyway, these guys are basically peddling martial arts snake oil–or snake excrement. That’s right, shitting and pissing yourself is among the techniques they advocate. They also suggest rubbing shit on your arms and on your face, a Martial Arts Fail of the Week first.

The knee-jerk reaction is “You know what? That’d probably work!” Well it might if you had the time to pull your pants down, shit into your hands, and then rub it on yourself. If somebody suddenly jumps you, it’s hard to do all that. You can shit yourself, though.

These guys also claim burping and farting are legit techniques.

Oh, and “these guys” are Lou Casamassa’s Red Dragon Karate (what an original name). Lou Casamassa is a 10th degree black belt in karate and the founder of the American Karate Kung Fu Federation. He claims to have used “Yankee ingenuity” to combine the 7 greatest martial arts into his Red Dragon Karate style. Ugh.

Funnily enough, his son–Chris Casamassa–was actually Scorpion in the first Mortal Kombat movie. You know what else he was in? WMAC MASTERS! His nickname was “Red Dragon,” no doubt an homage to his father’s style. Remember WMAC Masters?

A shame Casamassa didn’t smear shit all over himself on the show. That would’ve driven ratings through the fucking roof. The ENTIRE FIRST SEASON of the show is on YouTube. We highly suggest you watch it because it’s incredibly terrible–so terrible it’s great.

By the way, thanks to Josh S. for sending us this week’s video.

If you see any video that’s good (or bad) enough to make the cut, let us know! Send it to [email protected].

Leaked Jones, Cormier Video Drives UFC 178 Interest Through the Roof

If there were any lingering doubts in your mind that Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier might be putting on a show for the sole purpose of filling their pockets with your hard-earned cash, well, those fears should be firmly put to rest.
It was difficult to i…

If there were any lingering doubts in your mind that Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier might be putting on a show for the sole purpose of filling their pockets with your hard-earned cash, well, those fears should be firmly put to rest.

It was difficult to imagine the heat between the pair elevating any more after their Monday lobby brawl at the MGM Grand. But there were those who believed that Jones and Cormier staged the entire thing, possibly with the help of the UFC, in order to boost sales for September’s UFC 178 even further through the roof. It’s not out of the realm of possibility; we’ve seen countless “feuds” between fighters end with both parties hugging in the Octagon and discussing their need to sell the fight.

Fool me once? Shame on you? Fool me 100 times? Just call me a fan of mixed martial arts.

But a Friday video, allegedly “leaked” from the UFC’s offices, shows that Jones and Cormier probably hate each other even more than they’re letting on when in the public eye. The clip, just over 90 seconds in length, was filmed after the fighters were featured on a Monday-evening SportsCenter interview.

Jones and Cormier were in separate rooms at the UFC’s Las Vegas office. During “media hits” such as this one, the UFC will handle all the filming and simply provide a live satellite feed to the outlet in question. Jones and Cormier were under the impression that the interview with ESPN’s Todd Grisham was over and that the cameras were off.

The interview was over. The cameras were still running.

And what those cameras caught was a supremely real moment between two fighters. Much of what they said is unprintable here. They called each other names. Cormier said he wanted to spit in Jones’ face. Jones responded by saying that he would “literally kill” Cormier if he spat in his face, and Cormier said he’d like to see Jones try.

Jones said he wasn’t talking about a fight. “I will literally kill you,” he repeated.

Death threats. If that doesn’t drive pay per views, then nothing will.

Even though the UFC is at least making attempts to look like they don’t want us seeing the clip (they are filing copyright claims on copies of the clip that are springing up on YouTube), it is still viewable on independent outlets which aren’t afraid of a little posturing from the UFC.

If the UFC is going through the trouble of having the video pulled down, doesn’t it mean that the company doesn’t want the public seeing it? Not exactly. My theory: This video was posted on the Internet by someone in the UFC. Whether they had permission to post the video or went rogue is anyone’s guess. But access to this clip would have been limited to Zuffa employees.

They were already off satellite with ESPN, so it didn’t come from the ESPN campus in Bristol.

They were not yet on the air with Jeff Wagenheim from Sports Illustrated, who filmed a segment with both fighters after the ESPN segment with Grisham concluded.

That leaves one option: A UFC employee leaked the video. Was he ordered to do so? Did the UFC leak the video in order to promote ticket sales (which, not coincidentally, began today) and then go through the motions of getting the video yanked from the digital world so that it could pretend it didn’t approve?

We’ll never know, but my money is on yes. And if the UFC did leak the video, it’s a brilliant move on the company’s part.

Regardless, one thing is clear: Jones and Cormier do not like each other. They did not stage a brawl on Monday to enhance interest in the fight. They are actually more cordial to each other in public than they are in private.

And the end result is escalating public interest in a fight that will likely make both men very rich in a single night.

September 27 can’t get here soon enough.

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Hot Mics Catch Jon Jones Say to Daniel Cormier “I Would Literally Kill You”

Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier may have had one of the biggest out-of-the-cage brawls in MMA history earlier this week, but the intensity level was still high long after. While Jones and Cormier kept things oddly calm when they appeared hours later on ES…

Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier may have had one of the biggest out-of-the-cage brawls in MMA history earlier this week, but the intensity level was still high long after. While Jones and Cormier kept things oddly calm when they appeared hours later on ESPN’s SportsCenter, when the cameras were seemingly turned off, they immediately picked up where they left off.

Luckily for fans and media, though, the cameras were still rolling and boy, they still had a whole lot to say to one another.

In a leaked video (with very NSFW audio), the UFC light heavyweight champ immediately barbs Cormier after their segment ends, asking Cormier “hey, p—-y are you still there?” They continue from there, with Cormier eventually saying he wishes he could “spit in [Jones’] face” which prompts Jones to say “you know I would absolutely kill you if you did something like that, right…I would literally kill you.”

MMAJunkie.com, who is hosting the video on their site at this time, transcribed the conversation:

Cormier: I wish they would let me next door so I can spit in your f–king face.

Jones: You know I would absolutely kill you if you ever did something like that, right?

Cormier: You could never kill me.

Jones: Oh, I bet you I could.

Cormier: Then you should try, Jon. You really should try, Jon.

Jones: I will literally kill you if you spit in my face. Literally kill you.

Cormier: Let’s try that, Jon.

Jones: I’m not saying I would fight you. I said I would kill you if you do some silly sh-t like that.

Once again, this seemingly came seconds after a Sportscenter interview where Jones was soft-spoken and apologetic. The immediate turn from the “professional” Jones to the angry, bitter Jones that has been behind countless barbs and slights on Instagram and Twitter (most of which get immediately deleted) is, as Cormier said, impressive.

Still, this adds even more heat to what was an already huge championship bout. Jones’ utter dominance in the cage has led many to label him among the greatest fighters in MMA history, but he has been just a modest draw on pay-per-view and the box office. The honest-to-goodness vitriol between the two has made the fight with Cormier quite possibly the most anticipated of Jones’ career.

Jones and Cormier will fight at UFC 178 on September 27 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Stick with Bleacher Report for more news on the event, and this ugly rivalry, as they become available.

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