"We saw Phil davis snd Ryan Bader fight last weekend in Bellator for their light heavyweight title and it was a good fight, but I believe when Jon and I fight, you will see the highest level of mixed martial arts that you will see this entire year; two of the best fighters in the world...I actually love it. I'm a huge wrestling fan and it's much more fun being the bad guy than the good guy. The good guys are out there searching for cheers," stated UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who talked about his long-awaited rematch with former champion Jon Jones. Check it out!
PC: You are preparing for the biggest fight of your career, a July 29th rematch against Jon Jones. Have you had that thought cross your mind yet like, "If this dude don't show up for this fight..."
DC: Well, if he don't show up this time, that's it. I won't reschedule another fight with him; I'm done! I'm not going to waste anymore time or energy scheduling a fight if it doesn't happen this time. I am confident now that it will happen. This now is the biggest MMA fight of the year. We saw Phil davis snd Ryan Bader fight last weekend in Bellator for their light heavyweight title and it was a good fight, but I believe when Jon and I fight, you will see the highest level of mixed martial arts that you will see this entire year; two of the best fighters in the world.
PC: You said a key word; you won't waste any more energy if this doesn't happen this time. I spoke to you after the first fight with Jones and I spoke to you after each cancelation and I could tell each time you were zapped emotionally. How do you channel those emotions once you are across the cage from him and turn that into inflicting punishment?
DC: You know all of the stuff that used to hinder me, all of the stuff that used to hold me back, I've let go. I've let go of the fact that Jon is going to mess up at times and Jon is going to do crazy things. I'm not dealing with that anymore. I'm not the moral police. I don't care if his career goes down the shitter. When I let go of all of that stuff, P, it made life so much easier for me to just go out and do my thing. At the end of the day, that's all that I really want to go out there and do is do my thing and fight. So it's been good. Rescheduling the fight again, it didn't have to be this. I had an opportunity to fight Jimi Manuwa on July 29th, but it needed to be him. That's what I'm here for. I've been around and I've been winning since he's been gone, but it needed to be him. This is the guy that I needed to fight, this is the guy that means legacy. All of these fights are legacy fights for me now and this is the guy, man; this is the guy that I needed to fight.
PC: We are both social media conscious and we know what's being said about you and this fight. When you hear people say Jon Jones has occupied space in your mind, how do you respond to that, because we have spoken off record and you don't think that is a true?
DC: I don't believe it's true at all. Sometimes...he says it because he says I get upset, but (laughing) I don't think it makes any sense. Come on, this guy has no ability to control me. My reality is vastly different than what he interprets. But people are followers, man. They have the ability to get behind something and Jon says it, so they believe it. That's fine with me though.
PC: Since the first fight and a little bit during the first fight, you have become the villain. Are you prepared to deal with the boos that's going to come your way when you step on the scale and when your intro music comes on for your walkout?
DC: I love it. P, I actually love it. I'm a huge wrestling fan and it's much more fun being the bad guy than the good guy. The good guys are out there searching for cheers. The good guys are going out of their way trying to make people like him. The bad guy gets to do whatever the fuck he wants and I love it. I told one dude he can kiss my black ass the other day. I never would have said no shit like that, but when you're the bad guy, you can just be the bad guy. As these online trolls mess with you, you could literally just go back at them any way you want to. I think it's great. I love it.
PC: Is it a careful balance of how much time you spend replying to internet trolls. I mean, you'll never meet half of these people, so do you have to be careful and be sure there is a balance of who and how many you reply to and how many you just ignore?
DC: It is a balance, but sometimes it's fun. Sometimes I literally go on my Twitter knowing that I'm going to have a whole bunch of stuff. I just respond to it or, P, I will put out something directly to cause them to start going at me. A lot of these fans, as you said, P, I'll never meet 'em, but they wanna follow, right, so you just make them do what you want. All of these people on the internet trolling you, they are pretty simple. So you could literally set a trap and make them do exactly what you want them to do. They think that you are playing their game when in reality, you are the one laughing. I will put something out sometimes on purpose to draw these people out so that I could have fun at their expense.
PC: Your last weight cut for your fight with Anthony Johnson was horrible. Do you feel like you are managing that better for this fight?
DC: Yeah man, it's much better this time. The California State Athletic Commission has implemented some new weight cutting guidelines that we have to follow. I think that will help us. I got a great nutrition company, Fitness VT; Lockhart and Leaf. Tyler Mitten is here living with me for the next 6 weeks. He helped Chris Weidman get down in weight for his last fight and Chris said it was his easiest weight cut of his life. It's going smooth. I'm excited where I am right now. Obviously, there is the nicks and bruises of training camp, but I'm excited where I am.
PC: It sounds like you are leaving no stones unturned for this fight.
DC: No, man, I got everything in order. I got this guy named Frank Munoz here. He is a professional kickboxer. He has like 90 professional fights. Jacob Casper is the heavyweight All-American for Duke University. He's really helping me in a lot of the positions that Jon really did make me struggle in. So we are definitely approaching this with all of our ammunition. We are doing this to make sure that we are 110% prepared. We are doing everything to make sure that when we step inside of the Octagon, there is no doubts that our hands will get raised.
PC: Before I let you go, have you watched the first fight with Jon to nausea or do you feel you have to be a totally different fighter and therefore you backed away from watching the first fight as a tool to prepare for this one?
DC: I think that if you look at some of my more recent fights, that will lend itself to some of the things that I believe he will try to do. I've watched the first fight because I know what was happening between him and I. I can watch his fight with Ovince Saint Preux or some of his other fights, but that all doesn't matter. The fight between him and I is where I'm going to get the best gauge. So we watched the fight, but we're working on different ways to try and impose ourselves on Jon Jones.
PC: I always appreciate the time, best of luck in training, and we will talk soon, my man. Is there anything else you want to add before I let you go?
DC: Yeah, you know how it go, man, thanks to everybody that looks out for me; FightHype for always holding the boy down, Oak Grove Technologies, Metro PCS, Monster Energy, Zinkin Entertainment, American Kickboxing Academy and my family and friends. You know how it is; thank you, P, I appreciate you my brother.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]