Henderson: Cormier should have wrestled more against Jones
Dan Henderson: “I think part of that was he ran out of gas at the end of the fight, but he should have been taking him down earlier, I thought.”
Trying to figure out what a fighter did wrong in a fight when he loses is easier to do after the fight has occurred. Duh. Monday morning quarter back is the term that comes to mind. But when asked what he thought Daniel Cormier did wrong in his UFC 182 title bid versus Jon Jones, Dan Henderson had some interesting notes:
“That was probably the biggest surprise of it,” Henderson told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “He didn’t really attempt too many [takedowns]. The ones he did, I don’t know. It seemed like he got in the clinch a couple of times and just kind of pushed off and backed out instead of keeping him there and working on that takedown. I don’t know. I think part of that was he ran out of gas at the end of the fight, but he should have been taking him down earlier, I thought. Jones is long and has some good balance. I’m sure it wasn’t easy to take him down.”
Cormier was relentless with takedowns against Henderson during their fight. At one point, he picked Henderson up over his head and slammed him. Right after, he used a crafty trip to take Henderson off his feet. It isn’t like Henderson is a slouch in that department, either — he, like Cormier, is a former Olympian in wrestling.
Jones ended up taking Cormier down three times in his UFC light heavyweight title-retaining victory Saturday in Las Vegas. Cormier slammed Jones once, but Jones popped right back up. Other than that, Jones seemed very difficult to get to the floor, in both the clinch and from shots. Jones used his height and reach advantages beautifully. Henderson felt Cormier just didn’t impose that part of his game enough.
“I thought DC’s wrestling would make a difference in that fight and he didn’t really utilize it the way he’s capable of,” Henderson said. “Jones did a great job defending it and putting DC on his back a couple of times.”