DC: Jon Jones is not a dirty fighter
Daniel Cormier on Jon Jones rematch: “If we fought again, I feel like I will be even more confident that I can get the job done. He did not beat me. He won the fight.”
Top UFC heavyyweight and former Olympian Daniel Cormier recently spoke with Bleacher Report lead writer Jeremy Botter, and said Jon Jones won the fight, but didn’t beat him, and wants a rematch. Cormier said Jones hit harder than he had anticipated, that he was able to get in close as he had intended to, and that the fight was competitive.
“I figured that even if he won the fourth round, all I needed to do was win the fifth round and I would win the championship,” said Cormier. “I thought those rounds were pretty clear in my favor, but obviously they weren’t. After watching it back, they were very competitive. They were close rounds. I thought I won the second and third rounds, and he won the first, fourth and fifth.”
“He did really good work on the body. He made that investment early, and it caught up to me in the fifth round. It allowed him to dictate the clinches. The clinch is a position I usually always win. He was able to win those because he wore me down with his body work early.”
Jones has a reputation in some quarters as a dirty fighter, but Cormier rose to his defense.
“That’s him being a competitor,” said DC. “I think I do the same thing. Early in the fight, I grabbed the inside of his glove as we were clinching. And then he started doing the same thing to me, but he did it over and over. But I don’t knock him for that. We are both trying to find an advantage.”
“If you prepare for (oblique kicks), they aren’t that big of a deal. He never really straightened my leg. It’s not Jon’s job to go away from a move that has been so effective for him. Learn to defend it. To me, that leg kick is not dirty. It really did nothing to me, and I’ve got bad knees. Just by lifting your leg and not being so flat-footed, it doesn’t allow him to hyperextend your knees.
“I don’t think he’s dirty. I think when he ended up poking my face, that was just an accident. It only happened once. I don’t think he’s a dirty fighter. I think he’s a guy looking for advantages, just like I was.”
“Jon won that fight. But after the fight, I have no doubt in my mind that I can beat that man. Nothing has changed. If we fought again, I feel like I will be even more confident that I can get the job done. He did not beat me. He won the fight. He did not beat me up, and I did not beat him up. We were in a very competitive, hard fight. And if anyone believes that it was anything different, go back and watch it again and you’ll feel a little different after watching it.”