DC Coach: Jones is disqualified from the G.O.A.T. discussion
Javier Mendez: “I think he’s in the G.O.A.T. discussion only because the other people that should be there are disqualified – by their doing or not their doing, they got disqualified.”
AKA founder Javier Mendez appeared recently on Submission Radio and talked about his fighters Daniel Cormier and Khabib Nurmagomedov. UFC light heavyweight champion Cormier and heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic have a superfight at UFC 226. And UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov fights former champ Conor McGregor on hopefully some day.
Twice Cormier looked across a referee and saw Jon Jones’ hand raised in the Octagon. However, the most recent loss was changed to a No Contest after Jones tested positive for Turinabol. And the earlier loss has been smothered to an extent under endless questions about Jones’ life choices. If you can set aside the losses to Jones, then with a win over Miocic, Cormier is under consideration as G.O.A.T., something Jones has bitterly contested on Twitter.
I think he’s in the G.O.A.T. discussion only because the other people that should be there are disqualified – by their doing or not their doing, they got disqualified,” said Mendez. “So, to me it’s a no-brainer as to why he would be considered in that category. If you disqualify yourself, you disqualify yourself. Right or wrong, it doesn’t matter, you’re disqualified. So just from that point alone, a hundred percent he’s in the discussion in my opinion.
Of course for that discussion to happen, Cormier has to beat Miocic.
“He’s great. He’s great everywhere. He’s a great ambassador for the sport,” said Mendez. “He does everything right and he’s not a trash talker. So, this is not one of those fights that is related to this person hates this person, there’s no hate here. It’s just to see who’s the best.
“Stipe, he’s got great hands too. Also, he has good power backing up, going forward, you know, he’s extremely well-rounded, he’s got a good IQ. He’s got everything. And with DC, what edges him out a little bit is in the wrestling, you know, a little higher wrestler. I think we have more striking opportunities with what we have, but the power factor goes to him, the height factor goes to him.
“But that’s nothing new to DC. When he fought as a heavyweight for the 12 or 13 fights, he never lost a round in any of his heavyweight fights. The rounds that DC’s ever lost were in the light heavyweight division, but never in the heavyweight. So, I’m expecting, honestly speaking, I’m expecting that to happen again where he just dominates the heavyweights.
In the ideal world for me would be him to get Brock next after Stipe. Which again, we gotta get by Stipe first, so that’s not gonna be no easy task as it is anyways, but then Brock and then finish off with Jones and then retire regardless of what happens and retire with a career that he can be proud of.
The unspoken insinuation is that Jones’ career is not one to be proud of.
There is a widespread belief that Nurmagomedov fights McGregor this year, but the coach isn’t counting on it.
“I don’t know what New York has planned for him,” said Mendez. “We’ll see come his final court hearing. They have more inside information on that, but hey man, anything could happen, you know?”
I think this one eclipses everything that they’ve ever done, personally. Only because they got so much footage and their real dislike for each other. I mean, come one, you couldn’t have scripted a better piece to have with all the video they have of everything and the drama. The whole world was in on what happened in that situation. So this fight is by far, in my opinion, the biggest fight that’s ever gonna be made for MMA.
Ideally, if he comes in September and the fight’s in December.”
“I think he needs to personally beat a Tony Ferguson, he needs to beat like a GSP-type guy. He needs to beat some top, top, top guys to really solidify his place in history. … But, does he need to fight Conor? Depends on Conor. If Conor’s fighting, then yes, he does. But if Conor’s not, then obviously it doesn’t matter. He’s still going to make history by beating the other guys. But it would be nice to get Conor in there, only because that’s the fight everybody wants to see.
The most dangerous fight for us is GSP. … It’s his fight IQ. He’s got an incredible fight IQ. He’s a brilliant fighter and he’ll have the right game plan and he’ll exercise it. He’ll implement his game plan and it would be up to us to stop him from doing it. But he would be to me the most dangerous, because out of all of them he’s the most intelligent when it comes to how he’s going to approach the fight, how he’s gonna get his body ready. He’ll do it to perfection. He’s like a scientist in a way. I love the guy, I think he’s incredible and I believe he’s our toughest test for sure.