An emotional Daniel Cormier didn't conjure up any excuses or assume the role of a sore loser following his devastating, unanimous-decision loss to Jon Jones in their light heavyweight title fight at UFC 182 on Saturday.
Instead, Cormier swallowed his pride and proved that he's a genuine sportsman by paying Jones respect for his extraordinary abilities during the UFC 182 post-fight press conference.
"I can't say enough about his mentality inside of that Octagon," said Cormier. "I've shared that cage with some very, very strong men and some very big men, heroes (and) superheroes, and I can't say enough about his grit and his determination, because I pushed him and I went after him and I fought him but he did a good job."
Jones and Cormier had engaged in a typical alpha-male war of words, one that began four years ago with a backhanded comment from Jones regarding Cormier's wrestling.
The feud reached a breaking point in August when Jones and Cormier brawled seconds into a staredown/photo opportunity at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
The 27-year-old Jones and the 35-year-old Cormier then showed the world just how authentic their rivalry was by putting on a tantalizing, Fight of the Night-worthy performance in the main event of UFC 182.
Each man got down to business early in Round 1 and didn't let up until they were both seemingly running on fumes in the fifth round. Jones made adjustments after a tumultuous second round and rebounded to control the third, fourth and fifth rounds, while Cormier, who certainly never gave up, slowly faded.
Jones not only denied seven of the former Division I All-American wrestler's shots, he also amassed three takedowns and became the first man to ground Cormier. In the stand-up department, Jones outstruck Cormier 126-78, including 92-58 in the significant strikes category.
Cormier spoke about Jones' effectiveness in this regard:
He got me with a good shot in the body in the first round that made it difficult. You know, Jon and his coaches did a great job of coming up with a game plan. Early in the fight he was hitting me left and right hooks to the body, and as the fight progressed he started throwing them a little straighter and that knee actually took a lot out of me early.
Earlier in the press conference, Cormier pointed out what caught him off guard most about Jones, who essentially took a page out of Cormier's book and bullied the challenger up against the fence.
"If anything surprised me, it was that he felt a little bigger in the cage than he looks normally. He's a big guy (and) he's strong. He hangs on you and when he starts to hang on you, it can zap you a little bit later in the fight."
Cormier also said Jones surprised him by countering while moving backward, something the previously unbeaten former Olympic freestyle wrestler didn't see on tape in Jones' previous fights.
One thing Cormier didn't attribute his performance to was the 12-inch reach disadvantage he had to deal with. In fact, Cormier said Jones' length had little to do with the fight's outcome:
That was my intent was to be close. We talk a lot about reach, (but) even on the outside we were kind of trading jabs and stuff, so it wasn't as big of a deal. I think it's more his tactics than anything. He has a way of making himself feel actually bigger inside of the cage. It's not his height or anything. It's abilities that make him hard to deal with.
Still, despite all the respect and camaraderie Cormier showed in the post-fight presser, Jones admitted that his feelings for the American Kickboxing Academy stalwart haven't changed.
"I don't like Daniel Cormier," Jones told Fox Sports (h/t MMA Fighting). "I don't respect Daniel Cormier. I hope he's somewhere crying right now. I'm sure he is. I can't wait until he earns his way back, so I can whoop him again."
And like he'd done in each of his nine UFC title fights, Jones said he attained his goal of beating his opponent in his respective areas of expertise.
"I outgrinded him. I held him against the cage. He could not get off the cage. He could have got off the cage, but I wanted to prove he's not the king of the grind. It wasn't a pretty fight. It wasn't a technically sexy fight. But I proved that he wasn't the king of the grind tonight, I was the king of the grind."
All stats gathered via Fightmetric.com.
