Why Daniel Cormier’s emotions may be his biggest obstacle
LAS VEGAS – Losing to the best fighter in the game, and quite possibly the greatest fighter who ever lived, is hardly a disgrace.
It’s how Daniel Cormier lost to Jon Jones that is so troubling.
Cormier, a veteran of two Olympic Games and an elite mixed martial arts fighter for years, let his emotions get the best of him when he stepped into the Octagon to challenge Jones for the light heavyweight title on Jan. 3 at UFC 182 at the MGM Grand Garden.
He had a long-simmering feud with Jones that boiled over during the build-up to the fight. They wound up brawling in the lobby of the MGM in a disgraceful scene for two supposed professionals, and were fined and ordered to perform community service by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Tensions remained high throughout the training camp and they nearly came to blows several times again during fight week. Whenever they saw each other, things got wild.
“I can be completely honest with you and say I don’t know if I would have won on Jan. 3 if I had fought my best fight, but I didn’t,” said Cormier, who unexpectedly finds himself getting another crack at the title that the UFC stripped from Jones when he faces Anthony Johnson on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 187 at the MGM Grand Garden.
“It was because I was too tied to the fight emotionally. I mean, Jon and I almost fought at the press conference; we were jawing at each other. Then after the press conference, we were getting our weights checked by the UFC and we almost got into a big old fight. And we almost got into a fight after the weigh-in. It was so much.”
Cormier’s dislike for Jones overrode his common sense. More often than not, fighters who get overly emotional during a fight make mistakes that wind up costing them.
It’s particularly troubling that Cormier had such issues, considering his experience and what he’s been through in his life. He’s come back from the death of a child in 2003 and missing weight in the Olympics to reach a high level again.
He was so emotionally involved in the bout with Jones, not only because of the dislike they had for each other but because Cormier saw it as his best chance to finally capture a major championship.
A major theme of the Jones-Cormier fight was Cormier’s brutally honest assessment of his performances in the past when he had championship opportunities. He just kept coming up short and put so much of himself into the fight with Jones that it overwhelmed him.
“I’m here to compete and I’m not here just to fight somebody,” Cormier said. “That got lost in the fight against Jones. I was wanting to fight that guy. I didn’t want to compete against him. I was just too emotional, too emotionally tied to that fight.
“Here’s the thing: I’ve generally been able to leave the emotion outside of the Octagon. When that door closes, I don’t care how my opponent and I feel about each other. I’m there to win the fight. But this was something different that I can’t explain. Because of all that emotion, we fought so hard in the first three rounds. It was like a dump after the third round and I don’t know what happened. I don’t know. I can’t explain it, but maybe it was just deeper than anything I’ve ever felt for anybody before.”
Cormier has no personal problems with Johnson, but he still has the issue of clearing the final hurdle and winning a championship.
Cormier is a slight favorite over Johnson, but he’ll have to prove that he won’t get overwhelmed and let his emotions take over yet again.
One of the differences as he has prepared for this fight is that he’s had regular sparring sessions with his teammate and close friend, UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.
Velasquez got hurt last time and they had less than a week together. Cormier, who simply raves about Velasquez’s ability, sparred with him repeatedly during this camp and believes that, more than anything else, will help push him over the edge against Johnson.
“I’m going to speak candidly right now, and I don’t know how many athletes would do this,” Cormier said. “I love Velasquez, but I also hate Velasquez. It was the most trying three weeks of my career because now, I didn’t get to switch in and out on Cain. It was me sparring Cain for three, four, and five rounds and it was atrocious.
“There were days that I said, ‘Man, I’m done. Let me out of here.’ But I’d told Cain when this fight was made, ‘Cain, don’t let me quit. There are going to be days I don’t want to go with you any more and will want to quit. Don’t let me.’ And there were days I tried and they wouldn’t let me out.”
So Cormier has come to the pinnacle yet again, hardened by his work with the heavyweight champion and hopefully wiser as a result of the mistakes he made against Jones.
He says he’s pushed himself like never before and is in the perfect state of mind, at 36, as he takes what very well could be his last crack at a championship.
Lose this one, and it’s more than likely he won’t get another shot.
Physically, he’s good enough to beat Johnson. Emotionally, that remains an unanswered question.
Can Cormier control his emotions and execute his game plan knowing what is at stake? He hasn’t been able to in similar circumstances.
Though he’s favored, he has much yet to prove on Saturday.
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