LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 04: (L-R) Opponents Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones face off during the UFC Unstoppable launch press conference at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 4, 2016 in Henderson, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Daniel Cormier has made no secret of his opinion that he wasn't impressed with Jon Jones' performance at UFC 197 last month against Ovince Saint Preux. Jones faced OSP on short-notice after the light-heavyweight champ got injured and their grudge rematch was postponed.
Jones won by unanimous decision, and Cormier has said a win in that fashion simply wasn't anything to be proud of. Cormier says that, despite all his rival's public confidence, on the inside he'll have questions for himself.
"He's going to have questions. And he's going to question himself," Cormier told The MMA Hour.
"You could see him processing things inside the cage. He'll go home now and he'll wonder, guess what bud, that's who you are now. That's how he'll look to July, when I'm kicking your ass."
Cormier and Jones' rematch has been rescheduled for UFC 200 in July, and Cormier believes that after a long layoff and a conditioning routine heavy on weight lifting, the former champion is simply a shell of himself, now. "I think this is Jon, this is the new Jon, this is Jon Jones with all the muscle," he continued.
More than possible "ring-rust" that Jones needed to shake off, Cormier says that a lot changed since Jones fought him in 2015, including the UFC-hired USADA deciding to ban the intravenous rehydration so popular among fighters after weighing in for bouts the days before. "This is Jon Jones that likes to lift weights," he surmised.
"Who's a big guy that's cutting weight and can't rehyrdate the old way under USADA rules. This is Jon Jones in the real world today, so when we fight in July he's going to look the same."
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