Jon Jones: 'I believe I could beat Daniel Cormier right now'
No one will confuse Jon Jones' win over Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 197 as one of his most impressive performances, but he knows if he had faced Daniel Cormier, things would have gone much different in the end.
Many chalked Jones' performance up to ring rust after not fighting for the better part of 16 months, but he disagrees with that notion.
In fact, Jones believes it was the switch from Cormier to Saint Preux that really threw him off his game and that led to a less than spectacular performance in the end.
"I think it was more the switch of opponents," Jones told FOX Sports at the UFC 197 post-fight press conference. "If you've been following my career, you know how big I'm into studying. I'm huge into studying. Me and my team, that's what we do. It's why I'm so confident going into my fights because I know what I'm getting into. Tonight, Ovince just threw a completely different thing than what I had prepared for. I'm going to say it was more the switch of opponents than ring rust."
Jones is confident that if Cormier was the person standing across the Octagon from him on Saturday night that he would have beaten the light heavyweight champion in dominant fashion and gone home with the real title at the end of the night.
"I would have beat him up pretty good because I am tuned up to be fighting Daniel Cormier. All my technique, my angles, my ideas, I've been working for Daniel Cormier for over seven months," Jones said.
"I believe I could beat Daniel Cormier right now. For sure and I'm going to prove that as soon as possible."
While the question of inactivity was brought up numerous times after his fight, Jones says he was definitely ready for a five-round war against Cormier but that's not who he ultimately faced. Of course it can't be ignored that Jones still beat Saint Preux by a lopsided margin on the judges' scorecards.
Still, Jones has worked tirelessly over the last year to get better -- but more specifically preparing for the showdown with Cormier.
When that changed, Jones adapted as best he could but ultimately the only thing he could think about was how much he wanted to beat Cormier on Saturday night.
"I feel like I've gotten a lot better. I think you guys will see that when I fight DC. Like I keep saying, I have been working so hard to beat DC. You guys will see that," Jones explained.
"This change of opponents really threw me off my game."
As far as the timing for his fight with Cormier, Jones was actually seen in a wheelchair in the immediate aftermath of his bout with Saint Preux.
Jones explained that he was just a little beat up from the fight, but nothing is broken and he'll absolutely be ready to go if he's needed to headline UFC 200 on July 9.
"I feel great enough to fight at UFC 200. For sure," Jones said. "Right away my shins were swollen, my left shin was swollen, my left foot was swollen, and when my adrenaline came down, I felt some serious pain so I just got in the wheelchair and made it easier on myself. Once I got a shoe on my foot, everything's more compressed now and I'm walking around pretty close to fine.
"So I know by Wednesday, I'll be totally fine, back in the gym getting ready for Daniel Cormier."
