1.) Wrestling: The obvious advantage of Cormier is his Olympic-level wrestling pedigree that saw him finish fourth in the 2004 Games. He went into the 2008 Games searching for gold as the United States team captain, but his body shut down after making weight and forced him to withdraw from the competition. He also came in second place in the NCAA championships his senior year at Oklahoma State University, making him one of the most decorated mat technicians to ever set foot in the octagon. But those accolades are far from good enough for Cormier, and he plans on using his wrestling to become UFC champion after he saw greatness fall just within reach during his amateur background. While it’s true that Jones is far from a slouch as a NJCAA National Champion, he just doesn’t have the overall wrestling skills that Cormier does. If “DC” can get on the inside and score some takedowns and/or make it an ugly fight in the clinch, Jones may be in for a long night. Cormier made notorious heavyweight grappler Josh Barnett look light when he lifted “The Warmaster” high to win the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, and he tossed fellow Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson around with ease at UFC 173. Even with Jones’ mat prowess, Cormier will have a big edge. 2.) Desire: Cormier appears focused on nothing other than obtaining the UFC belt right now; the same may not be able to be said about “Bones” at this point. He’s faced and beaten some of the legends of the sport during his illustrious reign, and it’s only natural that some of the drive and hunger he maintained as an up-and-coming fighter has subsided. That’s not to say that Jones has lost all motivation to fight and win, because he’s dominated all comers, and usually at their strong suit, throughout his record-setting string of title defenses. However, it just doesn’t seem like he has that advantage of being the hunter rather than the hunted, and this time, he’s facing an opponent that will absolutely not be intimidated by Jones’ mystique before he steps into the cage. Cormier has never even been seriously damaged in an MMA fight, let alone put in danger of actually losing. He’s been competing at the highest levels for many years, and he truly believes that now is his time. It’s going to take a special effort from Jones to stop Cormier at UFC 182. 3.) Competition: Before you cite all of Jones’ big wins over some of the best light heavyweights the UFC has ever seen, it deserves to be said that his accomplishments are already legendary and that he’s been dominant over some truly great former champions. Yet his main advantage over all of those fighters was his massive reach advantage; something that simply won’t be as much of an edge as it was over fighters like Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, and Vitor Belfort. Cormier has fought some of the most dangerous heavyweights on the planet. With wins over Barnett, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, and Roy Nelson, Jones’ size will have already been something that Cormier has faced and overcome. Those fighters don’t have anything near the dynamic striking skills of Jones, but they are much bigger and more powerful, and Cormier ran through them with definitive ease. He may not be able to do the same thing to Jones, but at the very least, his experience in beating some of the world’s best heavyweights will assist him greatly in his quest for light heavyweight gold. 4.) Overconfidence: At the core of reasons Jones could lose is his massive overconfidence, which lends to his belief that he can overcome any challenge to win any fight. It could definitely be said that it is both a blessing and a curse in this instance. He showed the heart of a true champion in his UFC 165 war with Alexander Gustafsson, the first bout he was ever truly in trouble in. But instead of granting “The Mauler” an immediate rematch due to the fight’s incredibly controversial nature, Jones instead made the “badass” decision to face off with Glover Teixeira, a shorter and slower slugger who had yet to face one Top 5-ranked opponent in his UFC tenure. Of course he won that fight, but then he campaigned for Cormier and Gustafsson to fight one another to decide his next opponent until he finally signed on to face Gustafsson at UFC 178. Cormier only got the title shot when “The Mauler” went down with knee surgery. Jones may come off as supremely confident, but that public face may mask an air of insecurity. His actions would suggest that he believes he’s already won each and every fight before he steps in the cage. As his opponents get better, that isn’t going to cut it. He obviously underestimated Gustafsson in a big way, and it could be argued that Cormier is the more dangerous of the two. Cormier’s nearly flawless track record could lend to some overconfidence of his own, but he’s been humbled too much in wrestling to take his latest hurdle with anything but the utmost sincerity. If Jones takes Cormier too lightly in Las Vegas, he could see the title belt strapped onto a waist other than his own for the first time in nearly four years. source
Even if Bones looks like the picture you posted, he will still come out the undisputed UFC LHW Champion.
Yeah, but the fact that Jones is a better fighter trumps all that bullshit. Jones 50-45 or late round sub.
JJ's reach could be his only savior this fight - difficult to bet against a guy with 84' reach and who also possesses very good skills. I hope Cormier beats him, and he will if he can keep it in the pocket, but I think AG might be the first to dethrone him. To beat JJ you really need to have a body structure where JJ can't strike you from outside of your striking distance. It's going to be an uphill battle for Cormier from the start, but I hope he does it. If he doesn't I think AG will have JJ's number next time up.
This whole post is virtually pointless. Why? 3/4 of the subheadings [Wrestling not included] are hypothetical fabrications of your imagination. You don't know Jones or Cormier personally, nor have you spent extensive periods of time with them. In that regard it is impossible for you to make any accurate assumptions of a topic such as desire for instance. 0/10. PS: Go Cormier.
DC fought some of the most dangerous HW's in the planet...like Nelson, Bigfoot, Barnett...uh huh. So, he fought some heavyweights, let's not pretend those guys were world beaters. Nelson was already established as a HW gatekeeper, Barnett is good but what was his last good win? Bigfoot, same as Barnett. Had he beaten JDS, Miocic, hell even Congo I'd be more sold. Don't get me wrong, I think he's a top 10 HW, and he's beaten everyone put in front of him, but HW is thin and until he beats some real talent at LHW it's hard to tell his real threshold (he could still beat Jones, anything is possible).
Jones does a lot of that destiny talk, which is potentially a bad thing. When you believe something is meant to be, you believe you can't mess it up, so you tend to not cover all your bases and set yourself up for a rude awakening.
I want to believe you so bad but I don't see Cormier coming close. I certainly do not see him dominating with wrestling. Heck, I barely see him having any success with it. He might get one, maybe two takedowns in this fight, that's about it. He should be able to negate the wrestling, however, which will give him a good puncher's chance. A way better one than previous Jones opponents.
I think DC will surprise Jon by manhandling him. I'm even gonna say that Jon Jones is going to get airborne in this fight. Not sayin DC will win. But it could happen
I dont agree with all points but DC will win, i said it before Jones will get rag dolled to a point where hes so frustrated his striking simply wont be effective.
TS, your post needs to be in quotes as you just copy/pasted from another website. And I disagree with the the last two points. "Competition"? Who the fuck is this journalist?
