Daniel Cormier explained what makes Jon Jones’ wrestling so good.
Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) defends his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in the UFC 309 main event Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Having fought both guys multiple times, Cormier can say now that Jones was very good at using his physical attributes to secure takedowns.
“It comes down to the spacing and the timing,” Cormier said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Chael Sonnen. “Jon Jones’ spacing is so important in his takedowns. In space, Jon Jones can’t get a takedown. He was never going to take me down by actually shooting a shot, getting to my legs and taking me down. But what he was very good at was pushing you up against the fence, right? Switching down to a double leg.
“He’s got an 84-inch reach, a 7-footer’s reach. So, if he can push you against the octagon, level change and get his hands locked, he can take you down. That’s what he was very good at. Defensively, he was so tall that I would get his leg up, and he would still kind of hop it. That made it difficult to take him down.”
That being said, Cormier doesn’t expect to see too many grappling exchanges between Jones and Miocic.
“I’d imagine, if it turns into long wrestling sequences, it would benefit Jon to be in the octagon side because I don’t know that his shots in space are good enough to take Stipe down,” Cormier said. “But, I don’t believe that it’s going to be much wrestling in this fight.
“I think they’re going to be boxing, kicking, and striking. … They’re both difficult to take down, but I would say against the fence, I think Jon is really good at dropping down with his long arms, locking under the butt and throwing you to the mat.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.
