Izzy Martinez doesn’t ever give Daniel Cormier a chance against Jon Jones – even on the wrestling mats.
Martinez was Jones’ wrestling coach for his two UFC light heavyweight title fights against Cormier. Jones emerged victorious in both, with his head kick knockout in their UFC 214 rematch overturned to a no contest after he tested positive for a turinabol metabolite.
Advertisement
An Olympic wrestler during the 2004 and 2008 games, Cormier said he’d be open to wrestling Jones under Martinez’s Real American Freestyle banner.
“I love the guy. He’s awesome – tons of respect for him. But they need to beat Jon at some point,” Martinez told MMA Junkie Radio of Cormier. “Daniel Cormier hasn’t beat Jon. I don’t think he can beat Jon at anything, but he needs to beat him at something, and the next best thing that he’s ever able to do is wrestle. So that’s always been the sh*t talk.
“‘Oh, you could beat me in a fight, but I’d beat your ass in wrestling.’ Even when I was telling Hulk Hogan, one day, it would be a hell of a dream because Daniel Cormier would actually think he’s going to come out here and kill Jon, and Jon will shock him again and the wrestling world will go crazy. So yeah, that’s a dream.”
Despite the magnitude of a potential wrestling match, Martinez isn’t so sure it would materialize.
Advertisement
“Jon’s cool, man. He’s in his own world in a good way,” Martinez said. “He loves Gable Steveson. He’s down there. He loves his family. So I don’t think it’s a priority to put on wrestling shoes, give Daniel Cormier a shot at even coming close to him. I think Jon loves the fact that he lives in Cormier’s head. I don’t think Jon or DC want to train that hard and put it on the line again. But if they do, they know who to call, baby.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: RAF co-founder: Daniel Cormier can’t beat Jon Jones at anything
