Daniel Cormier says Stipe Miocic was ‘so mad’ after faceoff

NEW YORK – Daniel Cormier has pulled back the curtain on what unfolded in the aftermath of the UFC 309 pre-fight press conference that pitted Jon Jones against Stipe Miocic.

The stance between Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) and Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) has grown more hostile as the days run down to Saturday’s heavyweight title fight at Madison Square Garden (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+). Jones said the fight is now “very personal” to him after he believes his opponent made a personal slight against his family and called him a “b*tch” on the “Countdown” preview show, but Miocic thinks this is an overreaction and claims he never talked about Jones’ children.

Cormier, who has a deep history with both sides of the championship fight, isn’t surprised by Jones’ behavior. He believes that “Bones” is the type to use anything he can as motivation.

“A lot of greats do (take everything as motivation),” Cormier told MMA Junkie on Friday. “He likes it. He works well in that too. He operated well in our series of fights and he doesn’t mind. We just talked about the weigh-in show and he talked about it being true – he didn’t make that up .He said, ‘I heard Stipe say that.’ to pay for it.”

Cormier said Jones might be pushing the wrong buttons in this situation, or maybe the right ones. He revealed some backstage insight to Miocic after he left the faceoff with Jones, where he refused to shake hands and told him, “Don’t ever mention my kids.”

“He’s mad,” Cormier said of Miocic. “You can tell. When he got off the stage yesterday at the press conference, Jon said, ‘Don’t talk about my kids.’ And Stipe says, “I wasn’t talking about your kids,” and he walked off stage, ripped off his microphone, and said to ‘Embedded,’ he was so mad and upset the.”

Ultimately, fight week interactions between champion and challenger have Cormier very excited for what’s to come on Saturday. The matchup has been criticized for almost the entire 20-month build-up, but now that we’re on the doorstep, Cormier believes this was the right booking by the organization.

“For a while I was like, ‘These guys are forcing the fight. It shouldn’t be happening’. Now it was going to happen,” Cormier said. “The way we’ve gotten here, it should happen. I’ve seen Stipe Miocic — it should happen. He looks good — good physical shape. Jon looks good. He’s lost some weight. I think you’re going to watch two of the best guys in the best shape they’ve been in a very long time compete for the most coveted prize in mixed martial arts.

“I don’t care about the popularity that some have for other belts. The most important belt in the world is the heavyweight championship, and we’re getting two of the greatest fighters of all time fighting for it on Saturday night. I can’t wait.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkies event hub for UFC 309.