Sounds like Daniel Cormier liked at least a little of what he saw from Jonathan Papelbon during Sunday's Nationals vs. Phillies game, when the closer went for the throat following a heated exchange with team leader Bryce Harper. Cormier is gearing up for UFC 192, on Saturady, October 3rd, where he'll defend his UFC light heavyweight title against challenger Alexander Gustafsson. But that doesn't mean he didn't have time to give TMZ a quick word about a little major league pugilism.
Acording to Cormier, his biggest takeaway was that, despite his lack of skill, he liked what he saw out of Papelbon, in terms of backing up his talk:
"Terrible." responded Cormier, when asked about the technique behind Papelbon's attack. "The fighting skill was, it was like something that I might do to Chris. You won't find that in the Octagon. But, you know what? A for effort."
Cormier expanded on the idea saying that Papelbon showed a fighter's intensity:
"You know what man, just the intensity and the intent says that, I guess he would fight, right? You always wonder, will a guy fight when the time comes? And it looks like it, because he actually went after his teammate."
As for Harper's side of it, Cormier sounded a little less impressed, saying that as a team leader Harper was right to defend himself, but should "hold himself in higher regard" than to get caught up in a fight.
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