Wrestling didn´t work against Jones in the 1st fight. What do you guys think DC should...

[Lay N Pray 101]

DC has to walk Jones down, eliminate the space that Jones will try to create, clinch/dirty box and not go for sloppy takedowns. Easier said than done but in order for DC to win, he has to do all this while having the cardio to last 5 rounds if needed.

 

[Russie]

Got to get inside and do some dirty boxing before going for a take down. A lot of time and energy was lost trying for the take down. DC can outwork him if he gets inside on him. Not easy at all because Jones wants do damage from a distance since he has the reach and can do it. I expect the lessons learned in the first fight will help DC. Will it be enough to win though is something we will have to wait and see.

 

[Fullmount Triangle]

ITT - Guy thinks that wrestling is only takedowns and Cormier's clinch work has nothing to do with wrestling

 

[Kung Fu bb]

Wrestle.Fight in your most comfrtable place and do what you do best.He didn't actually wrestle enough in first fight.It doesn't matter if some takedowns don't succeed,chain wrestle the whole time and use his dirty boxing.Cain had 34 takedown attempts on Junior Dos Santos in their 2nd fight,34!Compared to DC's 8 aganist Jones.He has better cardio now he can do it much better now aganist Jones with his wrestling.He WON'T win by striking on distance with Jones.If he is going to be like Cain,he can tire out Jones.

Good point. I like the idea.

 

[Melas Chasma]

part of the massive respect i have for dc comes from a belief that there is no way he should be able to compete with guys so much bigger and longer than him. the only variable i can see that he could manipulate is the idea of banking on jones lack of KO power and utilising his chin. what a horrible game plan that would be

Cormier is the biggest weightcutter at LHW.

 

[in the liver]

Cormier is the biggest weightcutter at LHW.

Nah

 

[Gilday]

It'll be a different fight.

Before the Jones fight DC beat everyone with his wrestling and he prided himself on being the best, and he went into that fight fully intent on just outwrestling him. He clearly didn't expect Jones to dominate the grappling.

Since that fight DC has cared far less about his takedown defense and is more aggressive with his striking in the clinch, as you can see from the Gus fight.

I expect DC to just stand up and dirty box and trap him against the cage as much as he can.

 

[Squall Leonhart]

Exactly. Other than "absorbing shots to get in" there´s no way such a short guy can deal with such a huge reach disadvantage.

 

[Ulti1]

D.C. Had success pushing forward with punches first 3 rounds . Just keep that up for 5 an he could win

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Depending on Jones' cage rust. I think Cormier should try and grapple in the later rounds. If not , strike with him and go for one of the sweet slams. Hoping both make it to the octagon!!!

 

[IcemanFan75]

Poke his eyes. I am actually being serious. The refs never take a point, they just warn you. So poke his eyes and give him a taste of his own medicine. I guarantee Jon would ham it up to the ref and whine about the eye poke. And it would be glorious.

 

[josh345]

Isn't there a new rule where fighters can't have an outstretched open hand? There goes jones' best weapon lol

 

[nogdog]

stay busy in the clinch - engage, dirty box, disengage. try to win on a decision by points via some form of business / "control." he probably won't outwrestle Jones and probably won't outstrike him from a distance. Jones is coming off of a long layoff - pressure him but don't stay engaged too long. stay busy enough to chip away at him and convince the judges you squeak out a decision.

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

DC didn't even try to wrestle with him. Most of the fight was clinch fighting. I think if he actually tries to wrestle he'll be successful this time. I think he fell in love with his stand up too much for a bit since he was getting KOs.

 

[Taric]

Dirty boxing was working very well for Cormier against Jones. Not sure why he pulled back from it.
Hell, my original fight prediction was "DC via Couture" ie, dirty boxing. It's such an obvious strategy.

 

[illegalnature]

Jones is a bad matchup for DC. But he's a bad matchup for everyone. Wrestling being your base and having to basically beat Jones with pure wrestling and clinch grinding is going to be hard as fuck. Much harder than Rumble throwing wild bombs and getting a flash KO or Gus using his size and reach to outstrike Jones.

 

[SeattleFightFan]

The question is what does DC need to do to beat Jones in the rematch?

Wrestling Jones didn´t work in the 1st fight. DC got 1 or 2 takedowns but that wasn´t enough, and he spent a lot of energy and Jones bounced back up like in the gif here. So for the second fight, taking Jon down shouldn´t be his strategy.

imo DC´s clinch and dirty boxing are his best weapons to beat Jones. "Forget" about takedowns.


With a reach disadvantage getting inside range is a problem, so DC is obviously gonna eat some shots (he´s fighting the best in the world), but he is pretty good at closing the distance, and connects powerful strikes when he´s in there, but specially on the clinch... so that´s where he should focus: on the clinch.


Thoughts?

Jones is doing there what DC often does to others - holding the neck down in the clinch.

DC needs to avoid that. so yes, like others have said, close distance, get in on the fence, get into the clinch, dirty box, and win in the clinch, including avoiding carrying Jones' weight like that. get Jones tired instead of tiring.

this fight may bore a lot of fans.

 

[Soul On Ice]

He's got a punchers chance

Stay at range and get picked apart or close the distance just to have a rerun of the first fight.

 

[method115]

It's hard for me to see a way for DC to win because the last fight was perfect for him and he still lost. He was almost always in the clinch with Jones and that's where he wants to be. Jones was just better than him there. So will see what happens. The biggest question is, is Jones the same after USADA and will he have ring rust.

 

[shortlefthook]

Exactly. Other than "absorbing shots to get in" there´s no way such a short guy can deal with such a huge reach disadvantage.

Im pretty sure mike Tyson made a career out of it, and rarely got hit.