Issue 120

October 2014

FO analyzes the fight everyone is talking about. Who will emerge with the UFC 205lb belt when one of MMA’s greatest wrestlers challenges the sport’s pound-for-pound champ?

After months of verbal sniping, immensely talented UFC light heavyweight champion Jon ‘Bones’ Jones will finally square off with one of the most fascinating challengers he could possibly face at UFC 178 in Las Vegas, Daniel Cormier.  

The bad blood between them stems from their first meeting when, according to Cormier, Jones was arrogantly dismissive and disrespectful of the former Olympian. 

Since then Jones (20-1) has perhaps implied he thinks Cormier is ‘fat’ and ‘lazy’, while Cormier has described the champion as behaving like a ‘teenage girl’. Yet playground insults aside, these are two of the very best fighters in the world and their contest should be a defining one.

Jones was originally scheduled for a rematch with his toughest opponent to date – Alexander Gustafsson – but the Swede’s knee injury gave Cormier, who himself has had knee problems recently, the opportunity he’s been chasing since before he even dropped down to 205lb. 

Even with just two fights at light heavyweight – a quick, clinical battering of loud-mouthed late replacement Patrick Cummins at UFC 170 and a demolition of veteran Dan Henderson three months later – Cormier earned a shot by virtue of his impressive heavyweight career.  

Currently 15-0 and never once in the slightest danger of losing a fight, Cormier has beaten down Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva inside a round, dominated Josh Barnett to win the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, and claimed inarguable decisions over Frank Mir and Roy Nelson.

Aged 30 when he made his MMA debut, ‘DC’s first UFC title challenge will arrive almost five years to the day he first fought for money. Very few people in history have started their pro career at such an advanced age and done anything like as well as he has. However, few are as good an athlete as the former US Olympic team captain and international wrestler.  

One of the most decorated grapplers in the sport, his skills remain shockingly sharp. In July, at the UFC Fan Expo, despite several years away from the competition mat, he scored a comfortable win over fellow NCAA wrestling champion Chris Pendleton. 

Even with Jones’ incredible ability, size, height and reach, he’d be spectacularly unwise to get into a wrestling match with Cormier, especially after the way he rag-dolled Henderson all over the same MGM Grand Octagon back in May.

But will Jones really try to out-grapple and out-muscle Cormier? He may just give it a try, but his clearest path to victory is on the feet.  

Tall, rangy, and armed with such unpredictable and creative striking, it will be very hard for the much shorter Cormier – a skilled striker himself – to get close enough to do any damage. Gustafsson showed Jones is far from infallible, but the Swede is physically similar to the champion. Cormier certainly is not (see his 13-inch reach disadvantage).

With the fight announced in late July, the challenger’s training camp will be shorter than usual, but he’s hardly stepping into the cage with minimal preparation and has surely pondered how to beat ‘Bones’ for a long time already.  

Jones claimed his performance in the September 2013 Gustafsson epic was partly due to not fully recovering from the grotesque toe injury he suffered while hammering Chael Sonnen five months earlier. He subsequently looked superb breaking Glover Teixeira down over five rounds in April.

Whatever fans think of Jones’ tactics or personality – he’s far from the beloved figure his skills suggest he could be – the champion is already, at just 27, one of the greatest fighters to ever punch, kick, knee, elbow, throw and choke other mixed martial artists. 

The toughest test of Cormier’s career looks set to be one of Jones’ most difficult too. As the war of words intensifies, the fight will only get bigger and better, making it a near-certainty to be one of the most important and intriguing clashes of the year. 

Expect Cormier’s boxing and takedown attempts to be explosive in the opening rounds, but as the championship stanzas close in, just like they did against Gustafsson, expect Jones to grow more ruthless and relentless as he aims to write another stellar chapter in his fighting legacy.