Daniel Cormier is surprised to see Bo Nickal upset at him over his UFC 309 commentary.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] is surprised to see [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] upset at him over his UFC 309 commentary.
During Nickal’s fight with Paul Craig this past Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, Cormier said Nickal showed that he’s not ready for someone like Khamzat Chimaev. Nickal won the fight by unanimous decision, but did not attempt a single takedown.
Nickal (7-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) didn’t appreciate Cormier’s comments, but the former UFC dual-champion explains that the standout wrestler just needs more work before competing against the upper echelon at middleweight.
“Bo Nickal is a bit upset with the commentary during the fight last week,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “This one kind of took me a little bit by surprise because I do like Bo, and I do believe that at some point he’s going to be a champion. I just think that he’s a respectful guy. So, he’s trying to say things in the nicest way he possibly can, but I think he may have misunderstood what I’m trying to say. What I was more trying to say in this fight is, let’s not rush him into fights with people who are much more experienced. That is how good he has done in a short period of time.
“You know what’s the craziest thing? After this weekend, right after the fight, people called me and said I was a Bo apologist. I was being apologetic for his performance, almost making excuses for him. That’s crazy because it’s odd that a fighter can interpret it so much different than other people in the world. I thought he did really good. I have no problem with Bo Nickal. I believe he’s going to be fine. I don’t have a problem with the performance. I thought he fought really well, but there’s room for improvement. Let’s just take our time – we don’t need to rush him.”
After UFC 309, Chael Sonnen and Daniel Cormier doubt Francis Ngannou’s chances against Jon Jones.
After UFC 309, [autotag]Chael Sonnen[/autotag] and [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] doubt [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag]’s chances against [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag].
Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) retained his UFC heavyweight title when he finished Stipe Miocic in the third round with a spinning back kick to the body in Saturday’s main event at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Watching Jones dominate Miocic (20-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) from start to finish makes Sonnen think former UFC heavyweight champ and current PFL heavyweight superfights champ Ngannou would’ve struggled against Jones.
“Do you know what Jon would have done to Francis Ngannou in hindsight?” Sonnen said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Daniel Cormier. “Now that we look back, Jon would have picked that big man a part. I mean, I’m just sharing with you, like, that’s a big man’s nightmare. Jon’s not a heavyweight; Jon is fighting at heavyweight. There’s a massive difference.”
Jones and Ngannou were on a collision course before Ngannou opted to sign with PFL. Cormier, who fought Jones twice, was especially impressed with his former rival’s wrestling.
“Yes, dude, Francis would have struggled with Jones,” Cormier said. “Dude, he threw Stipe down and just beat the crap out of him. He literally grabbed him by the neck, stepped behind his leg and threw him down. He choke slammed him and just beat him on the ground.”
Despite now coming off back-to-back losses to Dustin Poirier and Oliveira, Cormier doesn’t see Chandler’s chances of getting his fight with McGregor rebooked decreasing. In fact, he thinks it strengthens his case.
“I said this before the fight: I thought Chandler had a better chance of getting the McGregor fight if he lost,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “He lost that fight. He showed that you can hurt him, but he also showed how tough and durable he is.
“Michael Chandler doesn’t need to win all the time. He’s past that, in terms of who he is as a fighter. He’s past that. He once again won, even though he lost. He’ll get the McGregor fight, and it’s going to be massive, and I’m all for it.”
McGregor withdrew from his originally scheduled bout vs. Chandler at UFC 303 in June due to a broken pinky toe. When asked about McGregor’s status during the UFC 309 post-fight news conference, Dana White reiterated that it likely won’t be until late next year, meaning Chandler would likely have to wait quite a while once again.
“There is no doubt – Conor hits me up all the time, Conor wants to fight,” White said. “I told you guys he probably wasn’t going to fight in 2024 and he didn’t. He’s going to fight in 2025, probably at the end of the year. If it is earlier, that’s good for all of us.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.
Miocic was almost stopped in Round 1 when Jones took him down and landed big ground and pound. Jones systematically broke him down throughout the fight before getting the finish in Round 3.
“From the very start of this fight, it was very apparent that these two were not on the same level,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “From Round 1, Jon Jones had a 10-8 round. He started the fight with a beautiful kick to the middle, jabs at Stipe Miocic, takes him down with what was a sick takedown.”
Cormier thinks the damage Miocic took on the ground early set the tone for the rest of the fight, where he slowed down drastically.
“It looked like Stipe expected something, and he got something completely different,” Cormier said. “It was a wipeout. It really was a wipeout. And while I was surprised, I knew that this fight could go one of two ways: It could be very close, it could be very competitive, or it could be one-sided. Tonight we got option 2, the one-sided fight where Miocic didn’t get much accomplished.”
Cormier did take the time to praise his former rival, crediting him for what he’s achieved throughout his career.
”This dude proves time and time again, man, how good he is, and I truly believe a lot of it is due to the hard work, the fight IQ, and the toughness, the durability that he possesses inside the octagon,” Cormier said. “It does not matter what I feel about Jon Jones in life. I do respect him tremendously, immensely, as a fighter. He does a lot of the right things when he’s inside that octagon, and that has led to him having more success than anyone has had.
“This guy has defended titles, and over the course of three generations of fighters. That was it for that generation. Stipe was it for that generation. … He has defended this belt over three generations. So no matter what you feel about him, it’s very apparent that you have to respect him and the skills that he possesses in the octagon. He has once again defended a belt and stays UFC champion.”
Daniel Cormier thinks Jon Jones retiring after his UFC 309 title fight with Stipe Miocic would be an injustice.
NEW YORK – [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] thinks Jon Jones retiring after his UFC 309 title fight with Stipe Miocic would be an injustice.
The possibility of Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) walking away from competition has been heightened as his heavyweight title defense against Miocic on Saturday at Madison Square Garden (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) gets closer. He has outright refused to unify belts with interim champion Tom Aspinall, and said a matchup with light heavyweight kingpin Alex Pereira would be the only thing that would extend his career beyond this weekend.
UFC CEO Dana White said a Jones vs. Pereira matchup is not happening, and issued an ultimatum for “Bones” to either retire or fight Aspinall, should he emerge victorious against Miocic.
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Cormier thinks Jones will eventually fold, and struggles to see him hanging up the gloves, especially with a dominant performance.
“I think he’s going to fight,” Cormier told MMA Junkie on Friday. “I don’t know how or when, but I think he’s going to fight. Listen, you don’t want to get rid of this thing before you have too. Georges St-Pierre was young enough to keep going. Khabib (Nurmagomedov) was young enough to keep going, and those guys left. Not everybody can do that. I think it would be unfair to the sport if Jon Jones left.”
Cormier said he badly wants to see the heavyweight division, where he once ruled as champion, get a proper resolution. That means Jones vs. Aspinall for the unified belt.
“I want to Jon Jones versus Tom Aspinall,” Cormier said. “That’s the fight that I want to see after (UFC 309).”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.
Ahead of UFC 309, Jon Jones says he would love to put his rivalry with Daniel Cormier in the past for good.
NEW YORK – [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] would love to put his rivalry with [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] in the past for good.
Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) beat Cormier twice in title fights in what was one of the most heated rivalries in UFC history. However, Jones’ knockout win in their rematch at UFC 214 was overturned to a no contest after he tested positive for a turinabol metabolite.
Since then, UFC heavyweight champion Jones has tried to approach Cormier in a friendly manner every time they’ve crossed paths, but Cormier recently revealed that he wasn’t warm to it. Jones wants to see that change.
“Yeah, I’d love to bury that hatchet with DC,” Jones said during Thursday’s UFC 309 press conference. “You know, literally every time I see him, I try to give him a smile, I try to give him a handshake and I don’t think – I just recently found out he doesn’t like that very much.
“So, I think I’ll just give him a little friendly wave from a distance from now on. That’s all over for me a long time ago. I’m sure there’s a lot of guys, a lot of former opponents, that really don’t like me and that’s just part of doing what I do.”
Cormier will be on the commentary call for Jones’ return to the octagon. Jones defends his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 309 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Hulu/FX, ESPN+) main event at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Daniel Cormier has pulled back the curtain on what unfolded in the aftermath of the UFC 309 faceoff between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.
NEW YORK – [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] has pulled back the curtain on what unfolded in the aftermath of the UFC 309 pre-fight press conference faceoff between [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag].
The attitude between Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) and Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) has become more hostile as the days wind down to Saturday’s heavyweight title fight at Madison Square Garden (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+). Jones said the fight is now “very personal” to him after he thinks his opponent made a personal slight toward his family and called him a “b*tch” on the “Countdown” preview show, but Miocic thinks it’s an overreaction and claims he never spoke of Jones’ children.
Cormier, who has a deep history with both sides of the championship bout, is not surprised by Jones’ demeanor. He thinks “Bones” is the type to use anything he can as motivation.
“A lot of greats do (take anything as motivation),” Cormier told MMA Junkie on Friday. “He likes it. He operates well in that, too. He operated well in our series of fights and he doesn’t mind it. We just talked on the weigh-in show and he spoke about it was true – he didn’t make this up. He said, ‘I heard Stipe say it. I’m not lying.’ So in his mind it’s the absolute truth and he’s operating under the idea that Stipe Miocic insulted him, insulted his family and he wants to make him pay for it.”
Cormier said Jones might be pushing the wrong buttons in this situation, or perhaps the right ones. He revealed some backstage insight to Miocic after he left the faceoff with Jones, where he refused to shake hands and told him, “Don’t ever mention my kids.”
“He’s mad,” Cormier said of Miocic. “You can tell. When he got off of the stage yesterday at the press conference, Jon said, ‘Don’t talk about my children.’ And Stipe goes, ‘I did not talk about your kids’ and he was shaking his head. He went off the stage, ripped his mic off and told ‘Embedded,’ ‘Stop filming.’ He was so mad and upset.”
Ultimately, the fight week interactions between champion and challenge has Cormier very excited for what’s to come on Saturday. The matchup has been criticized for almost the entirety of the 20-month build, but now that we’re on the doorstep, Cormier thinks this was the right booking by the organization.
“For a while I thought, ‘These guys are forcing the fight. It shouldn’t happen.’ Now it should happen,” Cormier said. “As we’ve gotten here, it should happen. I’ve seen Stipe Miocic – it should happen. He looks great – great physical shape. Jon looks great. He’s lost some weight. I think you’re going to see two of the best guys in the best shape they’ve been in in a really long time compete for the most coveted prize in mixed martial arts.
“I don’t care about the popularity that some have for other belts. The most important belt in the world is the heavyweight championship, and we get two of the best fighters of all-time fighting for it on Saturday night. I can’t wait.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.
Here’s what you need to know to watch UFC 309 on pay-per-view, ESPNews, Hulu, FX and ESPN+.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
The UFC’s 13th and penultimate pay-per-view event of 2024 goes down Saturday in the “Big Apple.”
Here’s how to watch UFC 309 with the heavyweight title on the line at the top of the card at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Broadcast and streaming info
Jon Anik
UFC 309 has a main card that begins at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on pay-per-view (via ESPN+). The four-fight preliminary card airs on ESPNews, FX and Hulu at 8 p.m. ET. Three early prelims air on Hulu and stream on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET.
[autotag]Dan Hellie[/autotag] will host the official UFC 309 weigh-in show on Friday.
He’ll be joined by UFC Hall of Famer [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag], coach [autotag]Din Thomas[/autotag] and [autotag]Laura Sanko[/autotag].
Former UFC title challengers [autotag]Chael Sonnen[/autotag] and [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag], as well as retired lightweight contender [autotag]Paul Felder[/autotag] will serve as a desk analysts on the UFC 309 post-fight show and throughout the card, when necessary. [autotag]Brendan Fitzgerald[/autotag] will serve as the host.
Longtime UFC correspondent [autotag]Megan Olivi[/autotag] will conduct pre and post-fight interviews backstage with some of the athletes on the UFC 309 card, as well as report additional real-time updates for the event.
[autotag]Jon Anik[/autotag] will serve as the leading man on the mic from cageside at UFC 309.
He will command play-by-play alongside color commentators and UFC Hall of Famer Cormier and [autotag]Joe Rogan[/autotag].
(Mike Bohn, MMA Junkie)
Main event: Jon Jones
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 04: Jon Jones looks on during the UFC heavyweight championship fight against Ciryl Gane of France during the UFC 285 event at T-Mobile Arena on March 04, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 775947443 ORIG FILE ID: 1471352966
Record: 27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC Opponent: Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) Division: Heavyweight Key wins: Ciryl Gane Misc.: Won vacant heavyweight title with first-round submission of Ciryl Gane in March 2023. That was his debut at heavyweight after years as the light heavyweight champion. He’s been on the shelf with an injury till now.
Main event: Stipe Miocic
Stipe Miocic
Record: 20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC Opponent: Jon Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) Division: Heavyweight Key wins: Daniel Cormier (twice), Francis Ngannou, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum Misc.: Lost the heavyweight title in March 2021 to Ngannou. Was set to fight Jones a year ago until Jones’ injury took him out. Miocic chose to wait for Jones’ return rather than fight, putting his current layoff at around 44 months. Prior to this, the longest Miocic ever had gone without a fight was 13 months.
Co-main event: Michael Chandler
Nov 12, 2022; New York, NY, USA; Dustin Poirier (red gloves) and Michael Chandler (blue gloves) during UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jessica Alcheh-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC Opponent: Charles Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) Division: Lightweight Key wins: Tony Ferguson, Dan Hooker Misc.: Former Bellator champion has had mixed success in the UFC, including a knockout loss to Oliveira in a title fight that he’ll be trying to avenge as an underdog Saturday.
Co-main event: Charles Oliveira
May 15, 2021; Houston, Texas, USA; Charles Oliveira applies a hold against Michael Chandler uring UFC 262 at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC Opponent: Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) Division: Lightweight Key wins: Beneil Dariush, Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Chandler, Tony Ferguson Misc.: Oliveira already has one win over Chandler – a knockout to win the vacant lightweight title in 2021. He defended it against Poirier and beat Gaethje – but in a fight for which he missed weight and was stripped of the belt. After a loss to new champ Islam Makhachev, he rebounded against Dariush, but lost a likely title eliminator to Arman Tsarukyan in April.
UFC 309 main card betting odds
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 03: (R-L) Viviane Araujo of Brazil punches Natalia Silva of Brazil in a flyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 03, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Champ Jon Jones (-625) vs. Stipe Miocic (+455) – for heavyweight title
Michael Chandler (+205) vs. Charles Oliveira (-250)
Jon Jones didn’t hesitate when asked for the most skilled UFC opponent he’s faced.
NEW YORK – [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] did not hesitate when praising a former foe.
Heavyweight champion Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) makes his first title defense against Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 309 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Hulu/FX, ESPN+) main event at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Jones has fought generations of light heavyweight elite during his reign there – including title wins over former champions Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Glover Teixeira, and [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag].
When asked if former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Miocic is his most skilled opponent to date, Jones didn’t let his heated rivalry with Cormier get in the way of his answer.
“I think actually [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] is probably the most skilled,” Jones said during Wednesday’s UFC 309 media day. “His Olympic-level wrestling, his dirty boxing, and his boxing. But, Stipe’s beat Daniel Cormier. Stipe, he deserves to be here, man.
“He can wrestle. He always comes lean and in shape. He has great cardio, and he has that right hand. Whether it’s the straight right, overhand right, or right uppercut, that’s his real weapon. That’s his ticket. We’re very aware of that, and we’re very prepared for that.”
Daniel Cormier knows from experience just how difficult it is to beat Jon Jones and what he expects against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] explained what makes [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]’ 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.”
