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Before Cormier discussed the possibility of fighting Jones, he brought up Mir again and how he feels that he put too much time and too much effort into their proposed bout to just let it go. The fight with Mir is something Cormier is extremely passionate about and if he has his way he will use it to further his spot at the top of the UFC regardless of the division.

“I would stay at heavyweight, I want to fight Frank,” offered the 33-year-old Cormier. “I think Mir and I have some unfinished business, I put in a six week training camp for Mir before he pulled out a month before the fight. All the things I learned in that camp and I worked on I want to be able to use on him inside of the cage. Also, I know how close that puts me to a title shot, if I’m able to get by Mir in the UFC, it’s obviously a high profile fight and it would help to build my resume along with my visibility. That would put me in line for bigger fights and make it easier to promote me for a title shot in either the heavyweight or light heavyweight divisions.”

“Jones is a great fighter and has so many physical gifts. Obviously he’s been working hard to get better and I think he’s going to have that belt for a really long time. There’s no rush to get down there (205) to fight Jones because he’s going to be the champion for awhile. Styles make fights and stylistically I think we match up pretty good. I think at the end of the day Jon’s biggest asset is his wrestling. Outside of his athleticism and his height I think his biggest asset is wrestling. In a fight with me that would be completely canceled out. Actually it turns because he doesn’t have the option to go and take the guy down because I’m not getting taken down.”

History will be made at UFC 157 on February 23 when Liz Carmouche will battle UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey. It will mark the first time that the UFC has promoted women’s MMA inside the Octagon. Cormier has watched the girls compete during his time with Strikeforce and believes it’s a welcome addition to the world’s most powerful MMA organization.

“Women’s MMA is fun, for these girls to get out there and do what they do is pretty impressive,” Cormier said. “Especially seeing the way Ronda does it, I think we have to realize she’s at a completely different level. No knock on anyone else, but Ronda is not your typical mid level athlete. Miesha Tate was a high school wrestler, Sarah Kaufman did something else before she started fighting, Rousey is a lifetime athlete. She’s competed at the highest levels of her given sport, it puts her at a completely different level athletically and mentally. It’s going to be very difficult for Carmouche to beat her.”

“When we look down the line and think of potential people that can get in there and compete with her on a physical level, I truly believe the only one will be Sara McMann. She’s also a lifetime athlete who’s competed at the highest levels of her sport. Where as Ronda was an Olympian twice and a Bronze medalist, Sara was an Olympian once and a silver medalist. McMann’s wrestling may be able to balance off Ronda’s Judo. Ronda’s big, she’s a lot bigger than Sara physically. McMann has always been around 135lbs and Ronda competed at over 150lbs when she was in the Olympics.”

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