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"I love DC but yea," Rockhold told Jonathan Shrager of The Underground. "He played into the "Jon Jones being the bad guy" role too much and let the boos get to him. Just got to block that out. Be yourself. Who cares? If the people like you, they like you. If they don't, they don't. If they like Jon Jones, who the f**k cares? He let that get to him, no doubt."
Rockhold says he even had a post-presser chat with Cormier to bring him back to center.
"A little bit," Rockhold admitted. "A little bit. There's not much to say at this point. I think he kind of lost track of what he was doing there for a second and played too far into "bad guy" Jon Jones and tried to beat him down over outside the cage [issues]. Focus on the technique. Focus on the fight and what's going to happen. That's all I had to say, really."
As for the rematch itself, Rockhold believes Cormier can absolutely retain his title if he can make mental and technical adjustments.
"Everyone wants to act like it was that lopsided of a fight," said Rockhold. "It was fairly close. I think DC just needs to relax. The more relaxation he'll have the more vision he'll have and the more he can pick his takedowns here and there. I think he had a lot of success in the boxing. Implementing more takedowns and staying out of the clinch. Just basic things that are pretty obvious.
"There's other avenues that we might be focusing on, but it's pretty basic information. If you go back and watch the fight, the little areas that he was caught up in. I think he let the stage get to him too much last time and he just needs to focus on relaxing. Relaxation so he can see what's happening in front of him and what's unfolding and how to adjust to it."
Rockhold says he even had a post-presser chat with Cormier to bring him back to center.
"A little bit," Rockhold admitted. "A little bit. There's not much to say at this point. I think he kind of lost track of what he was doing there for a second and played too far into "bad guy" Jon Jones and tried to beat him down over outside the cage [issues]. Focus on the technique. Focus on the fight and what's going to happen. That's all I had to say, really."
As for the rematch itself, Rockhold believes Cormier can absolutely retain his title if he can make mental and technical adjustments.
"Everyone wants to act like it was that lopsided of a fight," said Rockhold. "It was fairly close. I think DC just needs to relax. The more relaxation he'll have the more vision he'll have and the more he can pick his takedowns here and there. I think he had a lot of success in the boxing. Implementing more takedowns and staying out of the clinch. Just basic things that are pretty obvious.
"There's other avenues that we might be focusing on, but it's pretty basic information. If you go back and watch the fight, the little areas that he was caught up in. I think he let the stage get to him too much last time and he just needs to focus on relaxing. Relaxation so he can see what's happening in front of him and what's unfolding and how to adjust to it."
