In a world where most of us have been told by their governments to practice social distancing and stay in our homes to help stop the spread of COVID-19, MMA Junkie asked its reader which hypothetical fighter house they would rather spend lockdown in to ride out these tough times in the global pandemic.
The following houses were the options in play:
House A: [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag], [autotag]Artem Lobov[/autotag], [autotag]Dillon Danis[/autotag]
House B: [autotag]Nick Diaz[/autotag], [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag], [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag]
House C: [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]Quinton Jackson[/autotag], [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag]
House D: [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag], [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag], [autotag]Tai Tuivasa[/autotag]
From a deep dive into the comment section on MMA Junkie’s Instagram, House B seemed to be the post popular choice followed by House D, House C, and House A. Do you agree with the fan picks?
Below you can find our reader’s choices on which fighter house they would rather spend lockdown in:
Whether you pick Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic, or Anthony Johnson, all of Daniel Cormier’s rivals provided memorable high-stakes fights.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] has taken part in a number of big-time rivalries during his UFC career.
The out-of-the-cage heat between DC and [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] was unlike anything we’ve seen in mixed martial arts before or since. The rivalry between Cormier and [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] is an epic pure sports matchup between two world-class champions. Cormier’s fights with [autotag]Anthony Johnson[/autotag] were big deals, too.
But there’s a common thread among the six fights DC had with his most notable foes: All of them were for a championship, either an interim title or the undisputed version. A third title fight with Miocic is likely to follow, too.
So, when MMA Junkie Radio asked Cormier – who is expected to retire, win or lose, after the next Miocic fight – which rivalry her considers the biggest of his career, he settled on one fact: that all of his fights with Jones, Miocic, and Johnson were such high-stakes affairs, the rivalries were of secondary importance when they stepped into the cage on fight night.
Sure, it makes for fun bar banter on who might have been his single biggest rival. But a career spent in championship fights against the best over a span of several years speaks to Cormier’s legacy better than any one fight could.
“The importance of the fight is because of the belt,” Cormier said. “You can fight guys multiple times. But if you’re fighting these guys so many times with the belt on the line, that speaks to you and your opponent and the ability of both of these guys.”
[lawrence-related id=505423,505410,505173]
Once you bring it down to a one-on-one level, of course, there are differences. At the end of the day, Jones beating Cormier twice (one of which was later ruled a no contest due to Jones flunking a drug test) and Cormier defeating Johnson twice matters. And, regardless of who takes the final fight between Cormier and Miocic, the fact they both hold a knockout win over the other puts them on equal footing.
“The reality is, for everything else that Jon and I were, I think that’s going to be the one that stands the test of time because it was so bitter,” Cormier said. “But on the competitive side, I think Miocic will be that guy that, when we walk away from this game, you go, ‘Wow, DC had two really big series of fights,’ and I think three, honestly, because Anthony Johnson falls in line with that, too.
“I’m just one of those guys who was lucky enough to fight big fights, fight big fights often, and have guys that were good enough to, win or lose, get right back to those big, big fights. The great thing about those rivalries – between the three guys, seven fights – is that every one of them was for a UFC championship. That, to me, is a bigger deal than even having those rivalries.”
With the UFC shutting down indefinitely on Thursday, we are now guaranteed to be without major MMA action for who knows how long. It could be a month if Dana White gets his way, but it’s likely to be longer than that if the global coronavirus pandemic doesn’t tail off soon.
And so, what do we do without fights? We dream. You know what would be nice? If, when the UFC comes back, the promotion satisfies starved MMA fans with an epic weekend. [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag], [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag], [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag], [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag], [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag], [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag], [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag], [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag], [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] … just book them all for a three-day weekend of action Coachella style.
Speaking of Coachella, the iconic music festival was supposed to kick off this weekend. On Friday, a Twitter user who goes by Ariel Helvani (with a “v”) blessed us with this Coachella-inspired UFC poster:
Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce the lineup for the greatest weekend of all things mma ever assembled.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
If Daniel Cormier’s options are fighting Stipe Miocic in an empty arena or not fighting at all, he’s taking the fight.
[autotag]Daniel Cormier [/autotag] has been involved in some of MMA’s most electric moments.
Chief among them was his knockout victory over Stipe Miocic in July 2018 to claim the heavyweight title at UFC 226. The crowd response was deafening at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Such moments are part of the reason why it can be so tough for athletes to walk away from the limelight.
Cormier, also a former UFC light heavyweight champion, plans on making his trilogy fight with Miocic, who regained the belt at UFC 241, the final fight of his career. And while DC admits he would love the rush of a final victorious moment in front of a packed arena, he’s also realistic about the way things are going.
The UFC is looking to get back up and running after canceling three weeks of its schedule. As the global coronavirus pandemic plays out, the upcoming schedule is slated to go on without fans in attendance.
No one is sure how much time will pass before crowds are again allowed to congregate at sporting events. And if push comes to shove, Cormier (22-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) is willing to have his fight with Miocic (19-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) take place in an empty facility if that’s what it takes to have the bout come together in a timely manner.
“For me, it’s about me and Miocic,” Cormier told MMA Junkie Radio. “I love the crowd, that explosion that I got when I knocked him out in Las Vegas. I’ve had a life, a career of big moments, and I would love to have that last moment, but I would much rather have a chance to fight and compete.”
[lawrence-related id=505173,505090,503692]
Cormier likens his situation to that of future NBA Hall of Famer Vince Carter. Carter, 43, had an iconic moment when he finished his final game before last month’s NBA shutdown with a last-second three-pointer and a standing ovation. But Cormier, 41, is willing to bet Carter would trade that for a chance to finish the season in empty-arena games if the options are that or not playing.
“Vince Carter spent 20 years in the NBA, and everywhere he went was going to be the last time he was there,” Cormier said. “Because the NBA season is pretty much done even if they do get to play, his team won’t be in the playoffs. Vince Carter never got that last chance. Even before we went under quarantine, they put Vince into a game, and Vince shot a three-pointer as time was about to run out, and that’s going to be the last time he scored a basket in the NBA. I see him play that last game, and as it wrapped up he gets a standing ovation and got to go out on his own. But, if he got to play in an empty arena and play his last games, that would probably still matter as much to him, much better than not getting to play the last game. So I’d rather fight the last fight, rather than having to wait and (it becomes) so long.”
Will that wait become too long? Cormier believes the fact the UFC is getting back up and running helps his chances.
“This is what, for me as a competitor, this is what excites me, that the UFC is getting back to business,” Cormier said. “Because if the UFC gets back to business, then you didn’t miss that much. Not much got canceled. And if they’re going back to work, that tells me that if (Stipe and I) were going to fight before, then it’s probably still going to happen. And that, to me, is very refreshing to hear. It’s exciting to hear.”
As long as the right protocol and testing are in place and he doesn’t have to fly anywhere, you can count Daniel Cormier in.
The UFC’s insistence on plowing forward with its event schedule starting with UFC 249 on April 18 has been the subject of much debate.
Included among those debate topics is who among the announcing crew is willing to show up in the middle of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic and call fights.
Ring announcer Bruce Buffer already has stated he’s willing to do UFC 249, which does not yet have an announced location. Joe Rogan’s status is uncertain: He’s said he’s not doing it, but UFC president Dana White claims otherwise, and Rogan, as of this writing, has yet to clarify.
Then there’s one of the best color commentators in the game, [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag]. The former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion has become a cageside staple. Will he be involved in events going forward?
While it sounds like he’s not in a rush to board a plane and go call fights on White’s mystery island, there are situations in which he’d be willing to work.
Cormier lives in Northern California. If the UFC puts on shows at a location in which he can drive from his home, be assured of proper COVID-19 testing, call the fights, and go home, then it’s OK to count him in.
“A lot of things have to deal with location, right? If its somewhere close and very accessible, I don’t see why you wouldn’t do it,” Cormier told MMA Junkie Radio on Tuesday. “They’re going to be tested; they’re going to test everybody. You gotta understand going to do that UFC show, even if you aren’t showing symptoms of the coronavirus, you should still get tested anyway. So you could be better off than the people sitting home not getting tested. Understand what I’m saying?
“They won’t let you into the UFC event without testing you. So when they test you, you’ll know whether or not you have the coronavirus. And I believe that that makes it as safe as you can hope for.”
[lawrence-related id=505173,505090,505390]
Access to COVID-19 testing has been difficult for ordinary Americans. So the way Cormier sees it, if he gets tested at a UFC event and has the peace of mind of knowing whether or not he carries the virus, and that others have been tested and come up negative, then he’s good to continue his fight-calling duties.
“Obviously Dana and the company has access to those tests and test the fighters and test the referees and officials, test the UFC, test everybody,” Cormier said. “So if there’s going to be a safe situation, it’s going to be with those people in that arena, especially if you go from your car into the arena to do the fights, out of the arena and back home. Unless you’re out there doing all kinds of random things, you’re pretty safe to call the fights. If it’s accessible, and I don’t want to get on an airplane and go to an airport right now. But if it’s accessible, and I go there and get tested and get to call the fights and then go home, yeah, why not?”
He later continued, “I mean, the fights have to get going. As a country, I know that we need to be very serious about social distancing and staying at home and really try to stop the spread of this virus. But you just gotta hope, as a person, that life starts to get moving sooner than later. It’s just hard, man. Everything just looks so different. Life looks so different. I find myself saying this almost every day to someone: I can’t believe this is happening in my lifetime. You never could’ve imagined something like this would become part of your daily life. And it has, and you just hope sooner than later we can get back to normalcy.”
Daniel Cormier predicts Jon Jones will get arrested again in the future.
[autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] managed to avoid serious punishment for his most recent arrest, and his chief rival, [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag], predicts future legal trouble for the UFC light heavyweight champion.
Jones last week struck a deal with prosecutors to avoid jail time following his arrest for aggravated DWI and negligent use of a firearm, among others. He instead received 96 hours of community custody (essentially house arrest), one year of supervised probation, a minimum 90 days of outpatient therapy – via video conferencing due to the coronavirus pandemic – and 48 hours of community service.
Cormier, who’s failed to defeat Jones in two tries, has made no bones about his disdain for Jones through the years. But Cormier also said after Jones’ arrest that he’s taken no joy in seeing his nemesis fall yet again.
And now he’s worried that a light sentence won’t do much to deter Jones from more run-ins with the law.
“I just think he still will need something to really almost punch him in the stomach, because I don’t know if this is going to be it, if I’m being honest,” Cormier told ESPN on Monday. “I just don’t know if this will be it. I just don’t know if this is going to be it. …
“This is not me hoping he would get sent to jail. I just don’t think this punishment is going to be enough to stop him from doing those type of things again. Ultimately, there will be something else. Sadly, there will be something else. It’s just not enough.”
[lawrence-related id=504474,503902,503198]
Jones’ arrest was the latest in a long string of brushes with the law for the fighter considered by many the greatest in MMA history. The highest profile incidents were a 2012 escapade in which he was charged with DUI after wrecking his Bentley into a telephone pole in upstate New York, and a 2015 occasion in which he was charged with hit-and-run after injuring a pregnant woman in a collision in Albuquerque.
This past weekend, Jones shared a video of himself “off-roading” in the desert (via Twitter), the first time he’s been seen in public since bodycam video of his arrest came to light.
Daniel Cormier completely fell for an outrageous UFC 249 report from Ariel Helvani (with a “v”) on Twitter.
If you paid attention to Twitter over the weekend, you might’ve seen that Ariel Helwani Helvani (with a “v”) reported some breaking news about UFC president Dana White and Russian leader Vladimir Putin reaching an agreement on Khabib Nurmagomedov being able to travel to the U.S. so he can fight Tony Ferguson on April 18 at UFC 249, as planned.
If you really paid close attention, you realized that the information was coming from a parody account of the ESPN reporter. White didn’t, though, and actually replied to the fake Helwani account.
Even better than White falling for the fake account was [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag], who revealed as much during his Monday live chat with the actual Helwani. And boy did it produce one priceless segment.
Check this out (via Twitter) and try not to laugh:
“Obviously I’m not paying attention to the blue checks,” Cormier said.
Yeah, we know! 😂
In case you missed it, UFC 249 is moving forward with a new main event featuring Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje fighting for the interim lightweight title.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
Derrick Lewis predicts the upcoming trilogy fight between UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and former champ Daniel Cormier.
Former UFC heavyweight title challenger [autotag]Derrick Lewis[/autotag] doesn’t see the belt changing hands any time soon.
With the series tied at one a piece, current champion [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] is expected to face [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] for the third time sometime in summer.
Cormier captured the strap in July 2018, when, as light heavyweight champ, he knocked out Miocic in Round 1 to become a dual titleholder.
His first heavyweight title defense came against Lewis at UFC 230 in November 2018, where Cormier was able to use a heavy-grapple approach to take him out via submission in Round 2.
Cormier relinquished his 205-pound title, setting up the rematch with Miocic. They rematched at UFC 241, but this time, Miocic was able to rally back after an early “DC” onslaught and take Cormier out in Round 4 with a series of brutal body shots, before going up top for the finish.
Based on the outcome of the second fight, Lewis sees Miocic getting the job done again.
“I say Stipe will probably take it,” Lewis told MMA Junkie. “It was a real close final round, whatever round that was that they had in the last fight, I believe it the third round, it was a real close fight. It was back-and-forth, it was entertaining and I thought DC was going to pull it off, but he got caught so I believe Stipe is probably still going to come in there and get the job done.”
At 32, I did not enjoy seeing that man in that situation again, because it’s just bad.”
[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] isn’t celebrating [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]’ latest run-in with the law, despite having a long history of disdain for his chief rival.
Cormier (22-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) and Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) have never been on the same page from a personal standpoint since the first day they met. They’ve fought twice (and have been booked a few times more than that), with “Bones” winning the first fight by unanimous decision in January 2015 at UFC 182 then scoring a knockout in the rematch two-and-a-half years later only to have the result overturned to a no contest because of a failed drug test.
Jones’ resume includes a multitude of a legal and professional infractions. His arrest last week on charges of driving under the influence, negligent use of a firearm, possession of an open container, and no proof of insurance was an opportunity for many to rip the polarizing UFC light heavyweight champion, but Cormier won’t go there.
[lawrence-related id=503098,503069,502882]
“For a guy that has these issues, whether it be alcohol, whether it be drugs, that dead time is your worst enemy,” Cormier said on the “DC & Helwani” podcast on ESPN. “Because all those vices start to pull at you, especially when you’re sitting at home with nothing to do, especially if you’re not a person who does that a lot. Seeing him get into trouble again, a lot of people in my circle, they text me almost celebratory. That’s not me. I didn’t celebrate the kid getting in trouble again. I don’t think that you should celebrate or dance on someone’s grave in their darkest moments. You don’t do that to people.
“Ultimately are you a human being, or does this competition overtake everything? I didn’t take any joy in seeing that kid – or, at 32, he’s a man. He was a kid when he was 23. At 32, I did not enjoy seeing that man in that situation again, because it’s just bad.”
Cormier has made his feelings about Jones well known over the years. The pair have hurled too many personal attacks at one another to count, and Cormier never has been shy to give his opinion on Jones’ character.
After news of Jones’ arrest, an interview with both fighters and UFC commentator Joe Rogan prior to a scheduled UFC 200 bout in July 2016 (it didn’t happen due to a Jones failed drug test) resurfaced and went viral.
Even years later, Cormier stands by his position on what Jones must do in order to halt his reoccurring troubles – and that’s make adjustments to his inner circle.
“When it was happening, people started putting us these videos of Jones and I when we did a sit-down with Joe Rogan a while back, and I was talking about how it would be very difficult for him to change if nothing around him changed,” Cormier said. “It won’t change. It won’t change until something around him or the people around him change. …
“I’ve got to be honest: For as much as I don’t enjoy that and bask in it, it’s not going to change, until someone takes a drastic action to show that the behavior is unacceptable. You’ve got to imagine bow many times he’s done this. From the drug failures to the getting suspended, it’s all elevated. It’s gone from bad to worse.”
Setting up a trilogy bout with Daniel Cormier is not a priority for UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, who is focusing on his firefighting job.
Setting up a trilogy bout with [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] is UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag]’s main priority at the moment.
Miocic (19-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC), who doubles as a part-time firefighter in Ohio, is not putting too much energy into determining when his anticipated third encounter with Cormier (22-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) will take place. The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has brought the entire sports world to a standstill, and the UFC is certainly not immune.
The promotion has already postponed its next three events. More could be on the way, which could potentially push back the much-discussed, late-summer timeline for Miocic-Cormier 3. But none of that is on the champ’s mind, he said. The responsibility of his other job weighs more heavily.
“It’s looking like summer, but with this going on right now, honestly I’m not even worried about that,” Miocic said in an interview with UFC reporter Megan Olivi. “I’m worried about firefighting, and the paramedics out there and I got to do what I got to do. There’s so many people out there that need help. There’s people that are going to stay at home and some of them might get sick. I’m putting myself in harm’s way and I’m OK with that, but I’ve got to make sure when I’m home at the end of the day my family is OK.”
Miocic has not fought since August when he knocked out Cormier in their rematch at UFC 241 to regain the heavyweight title. Miocic suffered an eye injury in the win, and the recovery process has been long.
Recently Miocic was cleared to resume training, but the coronavirus outbreak began shortly thereafter and many gyms have been required to shut down.
Now everything looms in uncertainty, including a date for Miocic and Cormier to have their last dance.
