"I still have the underdog mentality because he won the last fight. I'm not going to trick myself, but the work that I have put in has made me the champion...For me, it's always going to be a grudge match. My feelings for him have not changed one bit," stated UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who talked about his highly-anticipated April 23 rematch with former champion Jon Jones. Check out what else he had to say!
PC: This has been a long time coming for you. It's the fight that you wanted and on April 23rd, you will get Jon Jones back in the cage. How do you feel?
DC: I feel good. I feel good, man. It's a battle getting prepared to get prepared, but I think we did a little better job of actually staying in the gym some in between fights. Although I needed some recovery time after the Gustafsson fight because it was so taxing. So I didn't do a lot after the Gustafsson fight because it was so taxing and I needed time to recover. I did go back to the gym at times. I did try to workout, I did continue to spar, I did continue to wrestle, so I stayed a little bit in better shape this time than I normally would in terms of training.
PC: April will make a pretty extensive layoff for you when you get back in the Octagon. Was that much time needed away or would you have preferred this fight happen a little bit sooner?
DC: I needed it! This is what I wanted, man. This is what I asked for. I asked for a break. I needed some time. I fought Jon in January, I fought Rumble in May, and then I fought Alex in October, so I was constantly in training camp, constantly getting prepared, so I needed the break to let my body recover and my mind reset. These challenges are so big and these obstacles are so hard to overcome that sometimes you gotta take a step back and allow yourself to regroup or recover your mind and refocus on the next task.
PC: Is the mindset different being the champion as opposed to the challenger this time around or do you still approach this with the underdog mentality because Jones was your last loss and you are being viewed as the underdog here?
DC: Yeah, I still have the underdog mentality because he won the last fight. I'm not going to trick myself, but the work that I have put in has made me the champion. And obviously that feels good, but I don't think that even matters when you look at the history and the competitive drive that Jon and I both have in regards to each other is what matters in this fight. It's not going to be who the champion is, who walks to the Octagon first, or who walks second. It's the competitive drive that is shared between us in regards to each other. We train harder than we ever do for each other. We do more for the other guy. For all of the bad blood, there is a level of respect in competitive sense only.
PC: That was actually where I was going with my next question. The first fight, the tension was there; it got real ugly between you two at times. Although you both have taken some jabs at each other on Twitter, it's nowhere near what it was for the first fight. Is this still a grudge match in your eyes or is this just two great fighters mixing it up again?
DC: For me, it's always going to be a grudge match. My feelings for him have not changed one bit. How do I approach that is the question? For me, to approach it the same way with all of that emotion is insane. That's the definition of insanity. How can I expect a different result if I do the same thing? You will not see me overly emotional anymore, you will not see me going back and forth with him on the internet. He's trying to engage me in those types of actions because he understands that he won that part of the game last time. I don't want that guy to win any part of the game this time.
PC: From a psychological standpoint, what do you feel you have to do to change the outcome of the first fight?
DC: I have to be me. I can't be a guy out there fighting. I have to be competing. Competition is what drives me. Last time I fought Jon Jones, I didn't compete against Jon Jones. I have to compete. Percy, you have known me and known about me since we were in high school. It was always the competition; football, wrestling, anything. It always came down to competition and against Jones, it was a fight. I can't win like that. So there were some things we had success with that we will explore, but we gotta make some changes too to get it done. I have to fight a really good fight. Sometimes you compete against somebody and you realize that it will takeĀ
it can be close and it might always be fairly close, but for the other guy to win, you think that guy has to fight the perfect fight. You use that analogy all of the time in boxing. I don't have to fight the perfect fight, but I've gotta fight a really, really good fight in order to get this done.
PC: In the first fight with Jones, I think people walked away thinking you didn't have a second gear or the moment was too big for you. Do you think the Gustafsson fight changed some of those minds or do you think you will always be that guy that continuously has to prove himself?
DC: Fans are going to be fans, P! I don't think many people are actually giving me a chance. As time has gone by, our fight has become more and more one-sided by the day. If you ask me what happened on January 3rd, 2015, according to the things that I get on my Twitter and stuff, I would tell you I went in there and lost, but fought him for 25 minutes. Let the people that's on my Twitter tell it and I went in there and got whooped for 25 minutes. Do you remember what Jon Jones did to Shogun? He beat him up bad. Do you remember how he manhandled and beat up Vitor Belfort outside of the armbar attempt? You remember how he just demolished Glover Teixeira? That's what happened to me according to some of these guys and some of the people that watched the fight. In reality, that's not what it was, but fans are going to be fans. Either you like me or you don't and if they don't, they are very vocal about it. They built this win that he has over me into something that is much much bigger than it was in reality.
PC: You come from a very decorated wrestling career, so I'm sure you have faced your fair share of rematches in that forum. Is it easier for the guy that won the first fight because psychologically he has an advantage knowing that he's defeated you before or do you think it's easier for the guy that lost because you have more things you can go to the gym and work on?
DC: For me, I think it works both ways. Jon gained something on January 3rd in knowing that he can beat me. I didn't get that. But for me, I saw the things that I did wrong and they cost me the fight where as the things that he did wrong, they might have hurt in the moment, but he still got the job done. So maybe those holes don't seem as big as mine because mine cost me the fight. I think it works both ways. I don't think its one clear advantage. There is something that can be said about winning a fight against a guy who is supposed to be able to compete with you on that level.
PC: You guys don't like each other, that's a known fact, but one part of you has to be really pulling for Jon Jones in a sense of his personal life and that he makes it to the cage on April 23rd.
DC: I tell you one thing man, my fingers are crossed that this kid can actually make it to the fight. I don't want him to get in any trouble. I like to protect my investment (laughing). And this guy is a means to an end. Financially and in terms to my career, he is a means to an end. He means big bucks and that is the God honest truth and if I didn't look at it like that, I don't understand the business. This is not only a competition, it's a business, so I am rooting for him, yes, 110% that he doesn't get himself in any shit and get into any trouble. I need him to show up on April 23rd so that not only can I extract some revenge for the last fight, but I can have one of the biggest nights financially of my career. This is the thing though, make no mistake about it, Jon and I, and he must feel the same way because the numbers that he has hit opposite me, he has never touched before, so he wants me to get there too healthy.
PC: I will definitely be getting some camp updates from you and see how things are going. Best of luck to you while training. Is there anything else you want to add?
DC: Yeah man, just once again, thanks to FightHype and everyone else that has supported me and been with me this whole time. It's been an incredible 6 years, man, and it could not have went any better even if I dreamed it up in my sleep. It couldn't have gone better than it has to this point. Thank you guys for always supporting me, I appreciate it. And lastly, I want to send my condolences to the Randleman family. The guy was a hell of an athlete, hell of a fighter, and nothing but a gentleman every time we came into contact with each other. He always seemed so happy and full of life, even in the face of adversity towards the end of his life. We lost a legend in Kevin Randleman and let's hope this doesn't continue. He was a young man and at the age of 44 and I encourage everyone to just try to do everything you possibly can to sustain your life.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]