There is no fighter in UFC history more familiar with UFC 309 headliners Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic than Daniel Cormier.
The former two-weight champion spent 38:01 fighting Jones over the course of their two meetings at light heavyweight, while Miocic and Cormier spent 48:42 competing during their heavyweight title trilogy.
Cormier recently spent time breaking down his bouts with Jones and Miocic and after taking a trip down memory lane, he highlighted what he feels will be the X-factors for both future Hall of Famers during their main event at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
“For Jon Jones, it’s going to be about taking advantage of opportunities,” Cormier told Jon Anik. “Stipe does leave openings but you’ve got to be able to capitalize on them and knowing Jon Jones the fighter he will do that.
“Elbows will be very obvious for (Jones). He will have to be able to use his range, distance and be diverse in the attacks. He’s got to throw knees, he’s got to throw those nice body kicks, leg kicks, he’s got to use all of his weapons.”
The lone heavyweight appearance for Jones in the UFC was when he debuted in the division in March of 2023, winning the vacant title by submitting Cyril Gane within one round.
Jones didn’t waste much time on the feet that night and instead took advantage of his superior wrestling and grappling.
Miocic, 42, has not fought since March 2021 when he was viciously knocked out by Francis Ngannou. Miocic’s most recent victory was in August 2020 when he won a closely contested decision in his trilogy bout with Cormier to pick up his record-fourth heavyweight title defence.
“It’s about being a bully,” Cormier said of how he thinks Miocic should approach this matchup. “He has got to show this guy, ‘I’m a real heavyweight, I’ve been here, I’ve defended this belt, I have fought the best of the best,’ and the one thing that should give him confidence is watching Jon Jones against other big guys. Thiago Santos, Dominick Reyes, they gave him problems but none of them were Stipe Miocic.
“This fight is much closer than people believe that we’re in for a great night in Madison Square Garden.”
Cormier’s rivalry with Jones was the best in the sport from roughly 2015 to 2017. In their first meeting, two judges gave Cormier Round 2 and one gave him Round 3 but Jones won the 25-minute contest 49-46 on all scorecards.
The rematch was more evenly matched through the opening 10 minutes until Jones landed a head kick in the third that was the beginning of the end as Cormier sustained the first stoppage defeat of his career — even though technically it was later changed to a no-contest after Jones’s win was overturned due to a positive drug test for a metabolite for the banned substance turinabol.
Cormier moved back to the heavyweight division in 2018 and his trilogy with Miocic remains one of the best championship trilogies in UFC history. He knocked out Miocic in one round to win the title, defended the belt against Derrick Lewis before losing it back to Miocic in 2019 and dropping the third meeting via unanimous decision before retiring.
“They say your opponents elevate you. These guys elevated me,” Cormier said. “I owe a lot of my success to them. I hope I made them prepare even better to make sure the fights were what they were, and they were amazing. Great time in my career and excited to see these dudes compete.”
Cormier will be on the call Saturday during the UFC 309 broadcast alongside Anik and Joe Rogan.
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