Fighters Only

Issue 140

April 2016

Who wins when bitter rivals do battle in the second championship chapter of their revenge-fueled fighting saga?

Who can forget the build up to UFC 182? Media-day brawls, barbed interviews and personal insults pumped up the first fight between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier to near-unprecedented levels. The champion met his match on the mic and many expected he’d experience that in the cage too.

But former Olympic wrestler Cormier was outgrappled by ‘Bones’ and picked apart on his way to a decision defeat. The beef wasn’t squashed though and ‘DC’ wanted a rematch against the pound-for-pound king.

Now set to meet again, events outside the Octagon have conspired to make Jones the challenger for the belt his nemesis earned by beating Anthony Johnson, and defended by besting Alexander Gustafsson.

The bad blood has returned to the boil and both fighters are heading in to UFC 197 with something to prove, so FO asks three pro coaches to determine whether Cormier can set up a rubber match or will ‘Bones’ Jones close the book on this rivalry.

Mike Brown

Former WEC 145lb champ and MMA coach at American Top Team

PICKING - Jon Jones

Jones did such a good job in the last fight of being in the southpaw stance and not only fighting on the outside, but fighting on the inside too.

Daniel Cormier has to stay inside and get Jones down with some upper-body attacks or foot sweeps. He has to disrupt the balance of Jones, but many people have trouble doing that.

It’s about getting inside and being effective in that position. Jones has a 12-inch reach advantage, which is really hard to overcome, so DC has to use a lot of head movement to land something.

Another thing he should try is to punch with him. He should wait for Jones to throw something and try to move his head off-line and punch with him because it’s going to be hard for DC to cover the ground to get in and land any strikes without getting hit. He almost has to wait for Jones to throw so he’ll be there.

If DC throws it’s too easy for Jones to take a step back and make him miss. Also, Jones’ takedown defense is so good. His MMA wrestling is as good as Cormier’s, if not better. Jones is so well-rounded. He’s good everywhere. He takes what’s in front of him and takes advantage wherever he sees an opening, and sometimes that’s beating opponents at their own game. He might not be an Olympic wrestler but he’s a very high-level MMA wrestler – as good as it gets.

His striking also keeps guys off-balance. Jones has people more worried about hands than the takedown and that’s the best time to take a guy down. The fight is going to be another decision, with Jones taking the win. With his added focus, he’s not partying anymore, he seems like he’s a little more focused on the sport, plus all the strength and conditioning, so we might see a more powerful and a more scary Jon Jones than ever before, which is pretty crazy to think about.

Jamie Huey

Boxing coach at Xtreme Couture and former trainer on TUF

PICKING - Jon Jones

I thought Cormier did some really good stuff in the first fight. He was throwing uppercuts that were effective but I would like to see him use body shots a little bit more. His standup looked a lot better than I thought it was going to, but Jones made the mistake of letting Cormier close the range. That’s why he was effective

Maybe Jon wanted to prove he could beat him anywhere. I worked with Chael Sonnen and Jones took him down and fought to Chael’s strengths. That changed things. It seems like he let Cormier fight to his strengths but he still had the right tools to beat him. That’s what Jones does.

If I were training Jon, I would have him throwing jabs, long right hands and uppercuts every time Cormier comes in, as well as throwing knees and using range a little more. I wouldn’t want him to take chances as he did in the first fight.

The only thing that changes is that Cormier is walking around as the champion right now so he’s going to have a little more confidence than if it was just a normal rematch. He is the guy now. In my opinion, though, Jon Jones is the most dangerous guy in MMA. I don’t see Cormier beating him.

Jon is angry. He’s not walking around with his belt, he’s been hitting it hard and he’s got something to prove. I would be surprised if this fight goes three rounds – never mind all five. I can see Jones hurting Cormier. He’s going to land knees, elbows and he’s going to do all the dynamic stuff he normally does and stop him with strikes. My money is on Jones.

Marcus Davis

Former UFC and Bellator fighter, now main man at Team Irish MMA

PICKING - Jon Jones

Jon Jones was so dominant in their first match-up, mainly by being able to utilize his incredible reach advantage, it’s hard to see the second fight going another way. He also showed the ability to actually outwrestle Daniel Cormier when the fight went in that direction, which was huge.

I really don’t see a much different result in the rematch between these two. I also believe that Jones’ extensive layoff has actually served as a much-needed rest, a break that will reboot him in many ways.

When you are the champ, it’s

got to be exhausting to be completely sought-after by not only fans and media but by everyone in the organization who is out to take your belt.

This enforced layoff will have allowed Jones to get his life outside the Octagon back in order, to become hungry again and take back what he didn’t lose in the cage in the first place. I see him using his range advantage and footwork again to score, as well as using his wrestling skills to nullify DC’s wrestling.

I predict another five-round fight, but I also think Jones will recapture his UFC light heavyweight title by unanimous decision once again. He’s just too good everywhere, even for a confident Daniel Cormier.