Daniel Cormier critical of Anthony Johnson's role in fake brawl with Jon Jones

A few months before their UFC 182 bout, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and top contender Daniel Cormier got into a brawl at a press conference. You likely know that by now. You also know that Jones went on to defeat Cormier in their fight. Since then, Anthony Johnson has worked his way into the top contender spot and will face Jones at 187. You likely know that too.

Well, Jones and Johnson tried to have a little fun at Dana White's expense at a Saturday press conference, staging a re-creation of the infamous brawl. They let a freaked-out Dana in on the joke right away, and many laughs were had. There was one person that wasn't a huge fan of Johnson being willing to take part in the tomfoolery though - Cormier himself. He spoke about in on the UFC 184 post-fight show, and while he thought it was funny, he had some thoughts on Rumble's role in the gag:

"That whole little thing they did at the press conference, you don't want to do that as a challenger. Why would Anthony ‘Rumble' Johnson want to be Jon Jones' friend? I understand good sportsmanship, but don't let him goad you into playing games with him. You are coming to take that guy's livelihood. You're his opponent. You go out and get that guy."

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"Don't be his friend and get you to be buddy-buddy with him. Don't give him any comfort. Go after him and intimidate him. They're going to fight in May, so you don't need to go out and do it at the press conference. But again, I kind of disagree with that.

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"It's a game of inches, and you don't want to concede to the champion that he can actually draw you in. It was pretty funny. They missed a couple things when they were in the back doing their choreography for their little skit in the back. They forgot a couple things."

I can see where Cormier's coming from, but different things work for different people. DC's approach might be what he needed to do to go in there at the max against Jones, but Johnson seems to handle himself in a more relaxed manner when it comes to fighting. We'll have to wait until May 23rd to see if Rumble is able to unseat the champ though.