"He's a very tough puzzle to crack" - Daniel Cormier compares Charles Oliveira to Jon Jones
Daniel Cormier believes Charles Oliveira is a tough puzzle to crack owing to his versatile arsenal. 'DC' recently drew parallels between Oliveira's title defense at UFC 269 and his own title fights against Jon Jones. Cormier wrote on Twitter:
"This was one of the essential things in the lightweight title fight between Oliviera and Poirier.He was constantly hitting him with his knees.The attack of Do Bronx comes at you in so many ways. He’s a very tough puzzle to crack."
Catch DC analyzing Charles Oliveira's fighting style below:
This was one of the essential things in the lightweight title fight between Oliviera and Poirier.He was constantly hitting him with his knees.The attack of Do Bronx comes at you in so many ways. He’s a very tough puzzle to crack; I try on my latest episode of detail.On @ESPNPlus https://t.co/xzg88HjXvz
Charles Oliveira successfully defended his lightweight strap against Dustin Poirier in the main-event at UFC 269. Poirier started off strong against Oliveira, landing several hard shots in the opening round.
However, Oliveira managed to blast 'The Diamond' with some heavy knees even while taking damage. 'Do Bronx' dominated Poirier on the ground in round two before sinking in a rear-naked choke in the third round.
According to Daniel Cormier, allowing your opponent enough space to rip the body is a 'strategy for disaster'. Cormier pointed out how Jon Jones had landed similar devastating knees on him during their title fights.
Daniel Cormier's rivalry with Jon Jones
Daniel Cormier lost for the first time in his MMA career via a lopsided unanimous decision against Jon Jones during their initial encounter at UFC 182 in 2015. While Jones went through a period of trials and tribulations between 2015 and 2017, Cormier went on to become light-heavyweight champion.
The two would meet at a highly anticipated rematch at UFC 214 in 2017. Jones dispatched Cormier with a head-kick in the third round to win the title unifier. However, the bout was overturned to a no contest after Jones' pre-fight sample tested positive for a turinabol metabolite.
The official scorecard for Jones vs. Cormier 2. Two judges had it tied 19-19 before the R3 KO. #UFC214 https://t.co/DXXA2M7bXu
Daniel Cormier went on to become the heavyweight champion and the first UFC fighter to successfully defend two titles. Despite two losses, 'DC' believes that his rivalry against Jon Jones defines his career. Going into his third title fight against Stipe Miocic, Daniel Cormier said on the CBS Sports' "State of Combat" podcast:
"I believe that Stipe and I will always be a great rivalry in mixed martial arts, even after I win the fight on Saturday. But the reality is that anything I do in my career, it's going to be hard to top what Jones and I had."