Jon Jones Will Destroy Daniel Cormier

Jon Jones is going to destroy Daniel Cormier on Saturday.

Daniel Cormier is a great fighter. He’s the second best light heavyweight in the world. He could probably be the best heavyweight in the world. He’s going to go down as one of the best fighters. It doesn’t matter. On Saturday, Jon Jones is going to run through him.

Their first bout, two and a half years ago, was close. Much closer than I remembered when re-watching it earlier this week. Cormier pressured Jones and got within punching range more often than not despite giving up 12 inches of reach. He made Jones uncomfortable at times with dirty boxing in the clinch and an overhand right. But Jones broke Cormier in the fourth when he landed multiple takedowns and used his size and strength to smother his opponent. Jones, like he’s done in every fight since entering the Octagon, adjusted to what his opponent was doing and systematically broke him down.

That was then.

This is a different Jon Jones.

This is a free Jon Jones. He’s been knocked down and tossed aside by just about everyone outside of the cage. People have forgotten just how good Jones is and can be. This is a Jon Jones that no longer has to live up to the expectations of others. He doesn’t have to be the God loving family man that he’s always been portrayed to be. He can be an asshole, which is what most people figured him to be all along.

This is an angry Jon Jones. We all know that he doesn’t like Daniel Cormier. He didn’t like him prior to the first fight, but that hatred has only grown exponentially since then. Jones can’t stand the fact that Cormier acts like he’s the champion despite never beating him. In a way, Jones is much like the Golden State Warriors. He wants to destroy you, but also have you feel sorry for him. And if you don’t feel sorry for him, he takes it personally, and wants to destroy you even more.

Jones is the most talented fighter to ever step foot in the Octagon. His striking acumen, offensively and defensively, will never be on the level of Anderson Silva. He will never have the wrestling of Georges St-Pierre or the grappling of Demian Maia. But no one has put all of those things together, along with God given attributes like size and athleticism, the way Jones has.

When you see Jones act the way he’s acted in the build to the fight and you the talent he posses, it’s hard not to think that he’s going to destroy Cormier. The build up and Jones’ attitude remind me of St-Pierre prior to his second bout against BJ Penn and Silva prior to his second bout against Chael Sonnen.

St-Pierre dropped his nice guy persona prior to the Penn fight. You could see it in the way he talked and carried himself. He was tired of Penn saying he won the first fight and every other proclamation Penn was making. He was on a mission to emphatically prove that he was the better fighter, not just skate by. He went out there, beat up Penn for 20-minutes, and forced him to quit.

I still remember Silva snapping on Sonnen on the conference call. It was a side of Anderson that had never come out before. He was tired of Sonnen’s games and jokes and put it bluntly, “I’m going to break his face.” And while Silva didn’t lay a massive beating on Sonnen, he did make him look extremely stupid before finishing him inside of two rounds.

‘Bones’ has never been as mild mannered as St-Pierre and Silva were. He’s always been on the arrogant side, but he’s typically been respectful. There have been some notable exceptions, but even the first Cormier fight didn’t bring out this Jon Jones.

This is a Jon Jones who will make a statement. He’s going to take his toughest challenger and biggest competition. And treat him like a child. He’s going to brutalize Cormier with kicks and knees to the body and punches and elbows to the face. He’s going to pressure and break Cormier.

Jon Jones is going to destroy Daniel Cormier on Saturday.

Make fun of me on Twitter if I’m wrong @jeremylambert88

For a longer breakdown of this fight and UFC 214, listen to me and Samer Kadi: Face The Pain Podcast – UFC 214 Preview