On Saturday night, Daniel Cormier attempted to defend the UFC light heavyweight title against his fiercest rival and the only man he’s ever lost to, Jon Jones. While Cormier had some success in the first two rounds of this anticipated showdown, he ultimately came up short, as he was put down by a third-round Jon Jones head-kick and polished off by a meteor shower of ground strikes.
While this result surprised many people, Cormier eerily eluded to a Jones head-kick knockout win many years ago, in the buildup to their first fight. Cormier based this foreshadowing statement on his own tendency to lean right, and figured Jones might try to capitalize with the left head-kick.
“Don’t think you’re going to kick me in the head with your left leg,” Cormier told Jones at a press conference. “Do not think you’re going to kick me in the head with the left leg.”
“It’s frickin’ glaring,” Cormier continued, discussing his tendency to lean into the blast radius of his opponents’ left high kicks. “That is a weakness. I am smart enough to understand when their is a weakness and I go and correct it.”
Unfortunately, the left kick still wound up being Cormier’s downfall. Though he clearly understood Jones had an opening for this strike, he was unable to override his own defensive shortcoming and paid the price.
Luckily, Daniel Cormier seems to be recovering well. On Sunday night, the former champ and light heavyweight great posted a statement to Instagram.
