Jon Jones Predicts 'Five Round Beat Down' Of Daniel Cormier In UFC 182
By Ray Boyd
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- UFC 182 is almost here. The much anticipated fight features the reigning light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and his bitter rival Daniel Cormier. The bitter tag placed on the rivalry is saying the least.
There is no love lost between these two fighters and on Saturday, January 3rd, the two will square off with bragging rights on the line as well as a title of course.
On Thursday, Jones called into SportsRadio 94WIP to discuss the much anticipate fight, and his rivalry with Cormier, with Brian Haddad.
"I can't say I hate the guy," Jones said of Cormier. "Hate is a really powerful word. I definitely have a strong dislike for the guy."
That dislike is well documented and many fans of the sport remember the face-off brawl and the pre-interview argument that both characterize the rivalry.
The heated nature of the rivalry sometimes causes people to question its authenticity, but Jones vouched for just how true it all is.
"It's as real as possible," Jones said. He added that a lot of people ask him whether the UFC puts him and Cormier up to their arguments to cause some buzz around the fight, but Jones refutes that notion.
Jones was asked about his ideal situation for the upcoming fight. Would he like a prolonged beat down of Cormier or a quick and decisive win early in the fight?
"Man, a quick finish would be awesome," Jones admitted. "To just shut him up right away and to prove to everyone how much better of a fighter I am than he is."
Jones is confident that at age 27, he has a decisive advantage of Cormier, 36, when it comes to training and being able to last in the actual fight.
"I just don't see physically how he has been training as much as I've been training and just can go as long as I can go," Jones explained. "I don't see how his body can keep up in the training or the actual fight and I'm going to prove that theory."
Jones, who has two brothers who play in the NFL, also joked about how bad of a high school football player he was, especially compared to his siblings. That inability led Jones to wrestling which ultimate led him to his career in UFC.
He also added that growing up, fighting was not something that was a part of his life at all.
"I wasn't a fighter at all growing up," Jones said. "I actually sang on the jazz choir and chorus. I was not macho at all really."
Jones wound up discovering the macho gene somewhere along the line which has led him to a 20-1-0 UFC record and eight successful defenses of his title.
Jones capped off the interview with a prediction for the much anticipated fight.
"I believe there will come a point in the fight where I come to mesmerize him and really confuse him and just start picking him apart," explained Jones. "I think I'll win the fight by decision. I think that's what the people want to see, a five round beat down of DC, and that's what I prepared to give them."
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