Daniel Cormier is currently considered by many to have an interesting style that has the potential to pose problems for the dominant champion in Jon Jones, but there are a few intangibles coming to this fight. Cormier postponed knee surgery to step in and get the title shot, and the former heavyweight is coming in on relatively short notice leaving a few unanswered questions. Will he be 100% come fight time? Will he have trouble making weight, or will he be fit enough to compete at that level next month?
"I believe I will dominate him. I don't think he has what he takes, but obviously I have to prove that on September 27th," Jones said on the MMA Hour. "As far as being fit, we all see what he looks like. I don't think he's in the greatest shape. Not only does he have to lose weight to get in shape, but he's going to have to focus on his tactics to be able to beat me. I just think that's a tall order."
Did Jones just call him fat? Not exactly, but he didn't exactly have nice words to say about Daniel Cormier's physique either.
Related: Video: Jones, Cormier brawl during media tour
Cormier recently spoke about being equally ruthless as the champion, stating that he plans to targets Jones' previous injuries along with expecting him to do the same with his injured LCL.
"I think he's just saying these to get to my head," Jones says about Cormier promising to attack his previous injuries, "Obviously a broken arm, a cut eye, a broken off toe, won't change anything. Let him do what he has to do, it won't stop me. My heart is unmatched. I will keep moving forward and I will win this."
Apart from talking about his next challenge, Jones also addressed some criticism he has received about eye pokes.
"I never said I didn't think it was dirty. It's something I do instinctively. It's something that I need to work on, and it's something that just happens. I realize that I do it, and I realize the criticism that I get for doing it, but it's not on purpose," he explains, "If you watch my fights, when people get poked in the eyes, it's usually when I extend my arm out in a reactionary way. I do put my hands on people's foreheads to maintain distance, but to say that I'm purposely trying to poke people in the eyes, it's just inaccurate."
He also addressed his controversial oblique kicks to the knees, and whether he's really going to target Cormier's LCL come fight time.
"I'm not a malicious fighter. A lot of people said I'm a dirty fighter, but I'm really not a malicious person," he said, "I stomp everybody's knees. It's a tactic that I've been trained to do, so I'm sure I'm going to stomp him on the knee at some point. But as I said, it has nothing to do with his previous injuries, that's just who I am and how I fight."
For what it's worth, this interview happened a few moments before their brawl, so some of his intentions may or may not have changed since.