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Daniel Cormier broke down the upcoming fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.
It was recently made official that Jones would defend his heavyweight title against Miocic in the UFC 295 headliner taking place Nov. 11 in Madison Square Garden, New York.
It's arguably the biggest fight of the year and there's no better person to assess the matchup that Cormier who has not only faced Jones twice, but Miocic three times as well.
And as far as the former two-weight champion is concerned, this is a fight that will be determined right from the get-go, especially with Miocic having not fought since March 2021.
“This fight will be determined very early, at least in my opinion,” Cormier explained on his YouTube channel (via MMA Fighting). “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. 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 with Ciryl and think any different. Because the left hand that the 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 also drew from his experience of facing both men by noting some differences between the two.
“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 explained. “His punches, his kicks are fast, his shots aren’t as fast but he’s got great timing and the ability to really pick and find those moments that he can land but Miocic is fast.
“You’ll be fighting Stipe, 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.”
Given Miocic's age and layoff, most observers are likely to go with Jones. That's not necessarily the case with Cormier who once again, reiterated that the early stages of the fight will determine who comes out on top.
“Many people are going to want to count Miocic out in this fight but that’s not necessarily the case,” Cormier added. “This guy’s the real deal and he’s there to win against Jon Jones in Madison Square Garden, which will essentially be a home game for Jones.
“I believe we learn very early though, who’s going to walk away with the heavyweight championship of the world.”
