Daniel "DC" Cormier is committed to learning from his mistakes.
After a five-round battle with UFC light heavyweight king Jon Jones at UFC 182, Cormier was left beaten, battered and bruised. For the first time in his professional mixed martial arts career, Cormier's hand was not raised by the end of his contest.
The sting was real. But it's something he says he needs.
Speaking on a recent episode of The MMA Hour, Cormier said he's rewatched his fight with Jones several times because he needs to feel the burn it brings. Only that can fuel him to fix his mistakes and to move on more motivated than ever.
"I've watched it 100 times," Cormier said (h/t MMAFighting.com for the transcription). "It has to burn. It has to feel so bad. It has to punch you in the gut every time you watch it."
When watching the fight, Cormier says he saw one man execute his game plan and one man disappear into a shell of who he should have been. The latter man was himself, and he views this as a major reason for his loss.
Among the factors contributing to the defeat, Cormier noted the absence of a superstar teammate and training partner, Cain Velasquez.
Usually a key sparring partner for Cormier, the UFC heavyweight champ was unable to help DC prepare for his UFC 182 main event due to a knee injury. Cormier confirmed this played a major role in his eventual demise.
"It was a very big deal not having Cain," Cormier said. "Because Cain, you need those days where you're in the gym and, you know, you don't just have success, you get beat up. There are days Cain will just beat me up and I needed something like that in preparation for Jones."
In his fight with Jones, Cormier faded in the championship rounds, getting outstruck 27-7 in the final two frames. He gave up three takedowns to the champ—two in Round 4—as well, something no opponent had been able to do to him up to that point.
While the presence of a star like Velasquez in the gym is undoubtedly huge, the heavyweight champ is particularly noted for his insane cardio and for his relentless pressure—the two areas Cormier is most critical of when breaking down his bout against Jones.
With a relatively shallow 205-pound division, Cormier might just get his chance to prove what he can do against Jones with a perfect camp behind him in the near future.
Or we might just get to see how Jones fares against Velasquez himself.
Should he defeat Anthony "Rumble" Johnson in his next title defense, Jones will have cleared out the division, and he's long teased a jump to heavyweight. One more win could finally push him over the edge and into the world of the (really) big boys.
What do you think? Was Cormier's lack of success due to not having Velasquez in his training camp, or is Jones just that good?
