Daniel Cormier Says Thiago Santos Must 'Fight His Own Fight' Against Jon Jones

Thiago Santos faces a mammoth task on Saturday night when he attempts to dethrone the most dominant light heavyweight in history, Jon Jones, at UFC 239. While the odds are stacked against the Brazilian, Jones’ long-time nemesis Daniel Cormier has urged Santos just to “fight his own fight.”

Cormier and Jones have a much publicized history together and have met on two occasions with the first meeting taking place at UFC 182 in January 2015 where Jones won by unanimous decision. The second bout caused much controversy at UFC 214 in July 2017 where Jones knocked out Cormier with a head kick but the result was overturned and Jones was stripped of the title after testing positive for a performance enhancing substance.

In an interview with MMA Junkie Radio, Cormier said that Santos must back himself and fight his own fight instead of looking at where Jones’ victims have fallen short in the past:

“I think Santos needs to go in there and fight his fight,” Cormier said. “Don’t think about what he has to do different than everybody else, what he needs to do to be better. Just fight your fight. Don’t worry about all that other stuff. All that other stuff is just white noise. Worry about Thiago Santos and give yourself a chance. It’s a tall order for him. It’s gonna be a tough fight for him.”

Cormier said he was surprised when Jones and Santos squared off seeing a notable size difference between the pair. “DC” said once the cage door shuts, the Brazilian will realise how hard it is to deal with Jones’ huge reach advantage:

“I saw them standing face to face the other day, and I thought Santos was a little bigger,” Cormier said. “And he’s not as tall as I thought he was. And I think he’ll realize early how difficult it is to deal with Jones’s length.”