MRI results permitting, Daniel Cormier should have an extra spring in his step following UFC 197.
In the build-up to Jon Jones’ highly anticipated UFC return, Cormier had almost prepared himself for eventually losing his belt to arguably the greatest fighter to ever grace an Octagon.
Cormier had offered to allow his late replacement for the card, Ovince Saint Preux, to have his training camp for the Jones fight at his gym alongside stars such as Cain Velasquez and Luke Rockhold. OSP refused the offer and Cormier responded with brutal honesty detailing his own ability (or lack thereof) to beat Bones.
“Even if I don’t help Ovince Saint Preux and I can’t help him beat Jon because I don’t know how to beat Jon Jones, I didn’t do it. I can only prepare myself as best I can to try and prepare to beat him.”
Cormier claimed the vacant light heavyweight strap by submitting Anthony Johnson after Jones’ belt was revoked for his hit-and-run incident in which a pregnant woman broke her arm. However, DC’s belt-winning performance was his follow-up to UFC 182, where Jones outclassed him to get the unanimous decision from the judges.
Being manhandled by Jones for 25 minutes seemingly made Cormier believe he was unable to beat Jones, but after seeing his mortal enemy put in a very un-Jones-like performance in his decision win over OSP, Cormier aired his confidence about fighting the former champion again to Fox Sports 1.
“He got the job done. A lot of times, most guys, they don’t have their best performance, they lose. They don’t get it done. So, it shows how special Jon is. That being said, very disappointed that I didn’t get to compete tonight, because I do believe that if he showed up in the form that he did tonight or if this is the new Jon Jones, there’s no way that guy can beat me.”
There you have it, folks. All it took was one sub-par performance for Cormier to go from not knowing how to beat Jon Jones to knowing that there’s no way the guy can beat him.
