I think he was gassed and took 4 off in order to save up energy for the 5th. In the 5th, I think he expended way too much energy just searching for the takedown (on the advice of his corner) instead of trying to strike more with Jon. What people seem to be forgetting is that Jones was also gassed for the duration of the 5th round and neither fighter generated much of anything in the way of offense in said round. Cormier didn't give up at any point, his gas tank ran low so he took the 4th off trying to conserve energy and he was too worried about pursuing takedowns in the 5th instead of hustling rounds. Had Cormier actually "broken", surely a fighter who hurts just about everyone and dominates in the 5th round in all of his fights wouldn't have been relegated to doing just about nothing in that 5th round other than wrestling to a stalemate.
The Judah and Ortiz comparison are rather forced, as well. He has just about nothing in common with either of them and Cormier/Jones has just about nothing in common with any of their fights.