Cormier: ‘I needed Cain Velasquez’

“I’ve watched it 100 times. It has to burn. It has to feel so bad. It has to punch you in the gut every time you watch it. Every time I watch it, I watch a very competitive fight, and I watch one guy stay the course, one guy get off course, and that guy was me. I watch my facial expressions change, and I watch my demeanor change, and I watch me go into a mode I shouldn’t have been fighting in. I should have continued to go forward, I should have continued to pressure him, and press him.”

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“It was a very big deal not having Cain. Because Cain, you need those days where you’re in the gym and, you know, you don’t just have success, you get beat up. There are days Cain will just beat me up and I needed something like that in preparation for Jones. So you saw the beginning of the fight, I was able to keep the sort of pace I wanted to keep for five rounds, but I didn’t necessarily have anyone to push me in fourth or fifth rounds to do that, it was a big deal not having Velasquez for this fight, but at the end of the day Jon got the job done.”

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“I’m not over it, it will never be over. I’m not a sore loser or anything, but nothing changed. There’s no relationship between Jon and I, there won’t be a relationship between Jon and I, I just hope that we can cross paths and not actually go after each other.”

Strikeforce HW Grande Prix Champion, Daniel Cormier took to today’s edition of “The MMA Hour” to discuss his losing effort against Jon Jones.

The AKA Team Captain prepared for the title fight against Jones without the aid of his best sparring partner, UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.