Coach: Jones will stop Cormier this time

Coach Mike Wikeljohn appeared recently on Submission Radio and discussed Jon Jones, who will be stepping into the Octagon soon to fight light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. In perhaps the worst verbal comeback in league history, Jones recently bragged that he beat Cormier at UFC 182 January 3, 2015 after going on a cocaine bender.

Well, Jon talks a lot, so because someone says something doesn’t mean it’s true,” said Wikeljohn. “And it’s kind of like, oh it’s on the Internet, it’s true. Or, so and so he said something so it’s true. Or a notion that Donald Trump tweets, they think is true versus wanting to do the best thing. So you know, it is what it is.

“Jon in the past did party a lot, there is absolutely no doubt about that. But he’s focused on his training in a big way in this fight and I know he’s tested a whole bunch. So he’s clean as anybody in the sport is and he’s going to go out there and dominate this fight.

Both Jones and Cormier have a history of not making scheduled fights between the two, but coach Wink is extremely confident that his fighter will fight.

He won’t exit,” sad Winklejohn. “No, Jon’s getting his title back – well, the title he never lost. Yeah, he’s walking out back being the champ of the world again.

“He’s looking fantastic, he’s looking great. You know, his ground game is there. He’s working with the guys from Gracie Barra, Barata De Freitas and Tussa. And the guy’s gotten just so good on his grappling. Izzy Martinez has got him looking fantastic with his wrestling. And you know, if he’s taking Daniel Cormier down last time, he’s going to continue to do it this time in this fight the same thing. His stand-up is looking really good, he’s working on getting some more strength in his tools.

“He’s already got this gigantic tool box, you know don’t where he’s coming from. You don’t know if he’s going to elbow, if he’s going to punch, if he’s going to kick high, if he’s going to kick low. He’s really hard to figure out, but now he’s starting to get the belief, a little more snap, a little more power into everything he’s doing.

The coach also said ring rust was not a huge concern.

“He gets that from sparring. He gets that from coming in and doing stuff,” said coach Wink. “Jon mentally is probably the best fighter we have at handling the pressure and rising to the occasion. A lot of people say that about OSP, but honestly, I think Jon could have finished him, but Jon being so smart [thought], ‘Well why should I stand right there in that range and get punched and engage when I won’t get hit.’

“You could count on one hand how many times he got hit in that fight, and at that level, that’s pretty cool to win a gigantic fight and not get hit. You know, nobody has a problem with Floyd Mayweather working his defense and being at the right place at the right time. So it’s just kind of funny. People just like the wars. You know, they don’t like people who just like, [say], ‘Yeah, I won, give me my money and a fight my brain is better for.’

The coach did offer a prediction, of sorts.

“I think it’s a different, shorter version of the first fight but playing out the same way,” he said. “I think Daniel’s gonna get frustrated because he can’t get to a takedown, he’s gonna get frustrated because he can’t hit big bombs like he used to and there’s going to be some frustration on his part. What we’re working on is a lot of fear of him doing these things because he’s worried about running into all of these different tools that Jon has.

This time the coach predicts a finish.

Oh yeah, absolutely, absolutely,” he said. “Jon’s focus is on point. Like I said, when Jon gets on top of someone on the ground, it’s always a bloody mess with elbows, etcetera. He’s got great submissions from there too and Jon can take Daniel down like you saw last time, there’s no doubt about it. But on the way, there’s a lot of strikes that Daniel’s gonna run into before he gets taken down.

(27:03 mark)

Cormier and Jones fight in the main event of UFC 214 on July 29.