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ESPN
Nov 11, 2024, 09:35 AM ET
When it comes to breaking down Saturday’s heavyweight title fight that headlines UFC 309 — one of the most anticipated matchups in the division’s history — nobody has a deeper understanding of what it’s like to be locked inside the Octagon with Jon Jones or Stipe Miocic than former UFC double champion Daniel Cormier.
No fighter has spent more time in the cage with Jones, the champion, than Cormier — 38 minutes, 1 second — over the course of two fights. And DC also knows what it’s like to be in the cage with Miocic, the former titleholder, as they shared the only trilogy in UFC heavyweight history from 2018 to 2020.
Cormier brought out the best in Jones, and the worst, as their fighting extended beyond the Octagon. At a 2014 news conference to hype their first meeting, Jones and Cormier brawled in the MGM Grand hotel lobby in Las Vegas. They also engaged in a heated verbal battle while off-air during an appearance on “SportsCenter.” All of this — plus their fights — provided MMA with one of its most notable rivalries. Cormier lost the first fight against Jones via unanimous decision in January 2015, and the July 2017 rematch ended with a Jones knockout but, after Jones tested positive for a banned substance, was ruled a no contest.
In the trilogy with Miocic, Cormier won the first fight in July 2018 with a stunning first-round knockout, adding the heavyweight championship to the light heavyweight title he already owned. Miocic got revenge in the rematch, beating Cormier by fourth-round knockout in August 2019. He beat Cormier by unanimous decision in their final bout a year later.
“They say your opponents elevate you,” Cormier told ESPN. “These guys elevated me. I owe a lot of my success to them [and] I hope that I made them prepare even better to make sure that the fights were what they were.”
With so much experience against two of the sport’s most decorated fighters, Cormier is well positioned to break down the matchup and challenges. How will Jones look against a bigger heavyweight while dealing with a lengthy layoff due to a torn pectoral tendon? How will Miocic fare after a 3½-year layoff from the sport?
Cormier met with UFC announcer Jon Anik to highlight three factors that could impact the outcome and also spoke to ESPN’s Dre Waters to expand on his thoughts.
Editor’s note: The conversation between Cormier and Anik can be found on ESPN MMA’s YouTube channel.
Be versatile on the feet
Jones might be the most well-rounded fighter in MMA history. Because he is skilled in all three facets of the game (striking, wrestling, grappling), Jones fights with a freedom in the Octagon that we rarely see. He can throw everything from flying knees to spinning elbows because he knows he’ll be comfortable wherever his creative attack might take the fight.
Jones’s diverse striking is also a key to his ability to make reads on what his opponents are doing. “Jones has a nasty body kick [and] he uses it to set up the head kick because the [opponent’s] elbow starts to tuck,” Cormier said, thinking back to his first fight with Jones. “You start to worry about the kick to the body, and then he drives it up top.”
To counter Jones’ diverse arsenal, Miocic has to use his boxing-heavy style to consistently pressure Jones and dictate the range at which the fight takes place.
“Miocic won’t have the height disadvantage that I did when I faced Jones,” said Cormier, who is 5-foot-11 — 5 inches shorter than both Miocic and Jones. “I couldn’t touch Jones until I was very close to him. Miocic is much bigger, so he’ll be able to get started earlier.
Miocic has to be inside of Jones’ kicking range. He can strike Jones before he’s in the range of [Jones’] knees to the body, while still being inside of the range of Jones’ head and body kicks.”
According to Cormier, once Miocic is within that range, he has to mix up his punches and combinations to set up the left hook.
“When facing a southpaw [as an orthodox fighter], your lead hand becomes secondary,” Cormier said. “Miocic has to be able to switch it up and lead with the backhand and then mix in the jab to create openings for the lead hook.”
Miocic also has to alternate between targeting Jones’ head and body, Cormier believes, because the former heavyweight champion is one of the few fighters who has “real power” in his body punches. That power could affect Jones.
“If [Miocic] is going down one path to victory, it will not work,” Cormier said. “He has got to give [Jones] a lot of information to process.”
Pay attention to the clinch
Cormier believes the grappling exchanges — on the feet, not necessarily on the mat — could be key for whichever fighter gets his hand raised. For Jones, who quickly disposed of Ciryl Gane in March 2023 to claim the title in his first heavyweight fight, this will be his first true test against a fighter who knows how to impose his size and strength on opponents. Gane comes from a kickboxing background, while Miocic has experience as a wrestler.
“In close, [Miocic] will be able to wear on Jones,” Cormier said. “[We’ve seen] big guys give Jon Jones problems. A lot of his best weapons are at range.”
But Miocic needs to be careful in the clinch as well. In Cormier’s first fight against Miocic, Cormier found an opening that he capitalized on during a grappling exchange. He believes Jones could have success in similar instances on Saturday.
“As Stipe and I would come together, I was finding a lot of success landing punches whenever he would exit [the clinch],” Cormier said. “Because when he exits, he tends to leave his left hand low. And he was allowing the clinch positions to play themselves out.”
One such exchange resulted in Cormier getting the knockout.
“When I would redig the underhook … he was trying to control my overhand … but [I] wrapped that punch around [Miocic’s] low, straight arm. This is the thing that Stipe Miocic cannot do in this fight with Jon Jones, because while Jones may not land a punch that can hurt him in that way, there are different weapons he could use — elbows, spinning back elbows, all of those creative weapons that could be a problem.”
Due to Jones’ extraordinary reach — 84.5 inches, second longest in the UFC — it’s easier for him to throw elbows when in close range than it is for him to land punches.
Change your tendencies
When skilled strikers such as Jones and Miocic square off, the smallest adjustments can be the difference between winning and losing.
According to Cormier, in his second fight with Miocic, Miocic saw an opening midfight and capitalized to get the win. Cormier believes Jones could present Miocic with the same opening.
“Stipe recognized that I lift my hands to gauge range, so then he changes to body shots,” Cormier said. “But that didn’t happen until the third or fourth round. He recognized that I was leaving my body open when I would throw my jab or whenever I would get close.
“That is a great weapon he may be able to use against Jon Jones. … If Jon ain’t careful, reaching as he does, he can leave himself open to that body shot.”
Jones also proved he can make the most of his opponent’s openings in his pair of bouts with Cormier. Jones did so by changing tendencies between fights.
“They knew that they found success with weapons to my body, but a lot of it [in Jones-Cormier 1] was kicks and knees,” Cormier said. “[In Jones-Cormier 2], Jon started to use his hands to get the same result — me dropping my right elbow — to try and set up the high kick. … Jon [knew] that weapons to the right side [would] ultimately make me start to drop my elbow. And when I did, Jones was able to find that opening and landed the head kick.”
Have Jones and Miocic spotted the same holes in each other’s games as Cormier? If so, will they be able to capitalize on the openings when they present themselves? Who will be sharper, with both men having been inactive?
The MMA world has many questions that need to be answered. On Saturday night, we’ll get that clarity.
