UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier has pinpointed a window of opportunity for Jon Jones to potentially knock out Stipe Miocic at UFC 309
Current champion Jon Jones and former champ Stipe Miocic will clash in arguably the biggest fight in UFC heavyweight history on Saturday at UFC 309. Jon Jones will be making his long-awaited first heavyweight title defence after winning the then-vacant belt last year. Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic have proven to be extremely durable during their legendary careers. The current heavyweight champion has never lost due to either knockout or submission in his career. Stipe Miocic has only been knocked out three times in 24 career fights.
Daniel Cormier before entering the UFC of Fame in 2022, spent a lot of cage time with Jones and Miocic. Cormier and Jon Jones had one of the most heated rivalries in combat sports history. Daniel Cormier also fought three times against Stipe Miocic. After serving Stipe Miocic one of his lone knockout defeats at UFC 226, Daniel Cormier believes Jon Jones can make a lighting strike twice at Madison Square Garden.
Daniel Cormier Reveals Potential Opening for Jon Jones
During a breakdown of the fight on ESPN, Daniel Cormier explained an opening he and his team saw during his Miocic trilogy that Jon Jones could potentially exploit. Speaking about this Daniel Cormier said;
“As we were getting ready for the Stipe Miocic fight, and when we were breaking him down, we saw some things in his game that we knew we could take advantage of. It was in the clinch,”
“I was finding a lot of success landing punches whenever he would exit.”
“Because when he exits, he tends to keep his left hand low, and he allowed the clinch positions to play out as they went. Later in the series, Stipe [Miocic] took the initiative in those sequences…”
“You wrap that punch around that low straight arm, and if you land it with enough impact, [the knockout] is what you get. While Jones might not land a punch that can hurt him in that way, there are different weapons he can use. Elbows, spinning back elbows, all those creative weapons that could be a problem.”
Daniel Cormier was a victim of Jon Jones’s arsenal twice during his UFC career. Jon Jones went and earned a knockout victory over Cormier at UFC 214 . This was before the fight was overturned to a no-contest due to Jon Jones testing positive for a banned substance.
Jones was able to win the then-vacant UFC heavyweight title. This was after the promotion stripped Francis Ngannou, by submitting Ciryl Gane at UFC 285. Jon Jones was able to get the victory in the first round due to a guillotine choke. Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic were scheduled to headline UFC 295 last year. This was before Jon Jones withdrew due to an injury. One year later, Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic are just days away from clashing in one of the most anticipated fights in UFC history. The winner could potentially walk away from combat sports forever, instead of taking on interim titleholder Tom Aspinall.
Stipe Miocic will return to the octagon more than three years after losing to Francis Ngannou. This was by knockout at UFC 260. Before this defeat, he was able to win back-to-back fights over Daniel Cormier to complete their heavyweight trilogy. Tensions have also ramped up recently ahead of fight night. This was after Miocic called Jon Jones an X-rated slut during the UFC 309: Countdown show. After this Jones issued a fiery response, to which Stipe Miocic has since apologised. According to Daniel Cormier’s analysis, Jon Jones could potentially knock out Miocic if he lures the former titleholder into the clinch. If this was to happen, we could be in for another highlight reel finish.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
