Daniel Cormier sees Stipe Miocic potentially posing issues for Jon Jones.
Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) challenges Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) for the heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 295 on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York,
Jones made his heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March, and needed less than a round to submit him and claim the vacant heavyweight belt. Based off what he saw, Cormier thinks Jones isn’t as fast as he was at light heavyweight.
“This fight will be determined very early, at least in my opinion, because we will know from the very start of the fight whether or not we are seeing the Stipe Miocic from before or if we’re seeing a slowed down version of the former champion,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “We’ll know that very quick because what we already know is that we do get a little bit of a slower version of Jon Jones.
“He is a little bit different than he was when he was a light heavyweight. No one could watch that fight against Ciryl and think anything different, because the left hand that he threw that ultimately led to the takedown was a lot slower. He even admits it. He goes, ‘I gained 30 pounds, of course I’m going to be slower.’ But if Miocic is fast – if Miocic with his boxing background, Golden Gloves, is still fast – that could give Jones problems.”
Cormier fought Miocic three times, and Jones twice, so has added insight into both fighters. But with Miocic returning to competition for the first time in more than two years, Cormier wonders if he’ll be the same version.
“The one thing that I learned in the fights with Jones and I was that he’s very good with his timing. He’s very good at fighting his spots, but nothing is overly fast or overly quick,” Cormier said. “His punches, his kicks are fast. His shots aren’t as fast, but he’s got great timing and a great ability to really pick and find those moments that he can land. But Miocic is fast.
“You’ll be fighting Stipe, and he’ll throw something and he’ll land and you’re like, ‘How did he get to me?’ He is fast, and if he’s still fast, he can get the job done. But if he’s slowed down – he’s almost 41 years old, I think – if he’s slowed down, even a little bit, it could be a problem.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
