Cormier acknowledges he’s totally ‘consumed’ with defeating Jones

Every set of eyes inside The Smith Center for the Performing Arts for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s “The Time Is Now” event Monday afternoon turned intently toward the center of the stage as Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier walked toward one another.

Nothing happened.

The gathering of fans and media inside the auditorium collectively exhaled as the fighters got through a staredown without incident, save for both fighters playfully yet awkwardly gesturing as if something might go down.

That wasn’t the case in August when a staredown to promote their fight escalated into a brawl in the lobby of the MGM Grand. Both fighters were fined by the Nevada Athletic Commission and ordered to perform community service.

Ultimately, the bout that was scheduled for September was pushed back due to a knee injury suffered by Jones. They will now fight in the main event of UFC 182 at the MGM Grand.

Cormier believed Monday’s staredown would go down without incident.

“I knew he wouldn’t touch me,” Cormier said. “He pretended, but he knew better. They fined us last time and made us do community service. Nothing was going to happen.”

The two-time Olympic wrestler is willing to wait for fight night to physically engage Jones again, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to compete with the champion until then.

During the news conference with some of the biggest stars in the organization onstage, Cormier and Jones went back and forth with barbs, leading Cormier at one point to say he was just going to keep replying until he got the last word.

Eventually, Jones relented and Cormier nodded in satisfaction. He admitted later it was a bit childish but insisted he would do it again.

“I want to beat him at every single thing. I want to get the last word, I want to make weight first, I want to do better interviews than him. I want to beat him in every single area that goes into this fight,” Cormier said. “People don’t understand that. It’s hard to comprehend that someone could be so consumed by one human being. I’m consumed by him in a way people don’t understand. He’s (had seven title fights). This is my first time. This is life for me.”

His confidence is also growing. Cormier was prepared to take the fight with a somewhat abbreviated camp the first time. The injury to Jones and later date ensure the 35-year-old Cormier, who is 15-0 in MMA, will have a full camp.

The one drawback could be that the buzz generated by the lobby brawl in August might have died down a bit by the time the fight takes place.

“It definitely lost a lot of momentum, a lot of steam. People were fired up and ready to see blood and now they have to wait,” Jones said. “The way the world works, everything is now. You have to promote the fight right before the fight. But I still believe it will be one of the biggest fights of the year.”

Cormier is not about to hide from what the brawl could mean for business even several months after the moment.

“It’s very weird because Jon and I are both fathers and we have fiancees and we’re educated, but we didn’t represent ourselves in the best light in that moment. But in that moment, it made people take notice. You can’t deny that,” he said. “I don’t want to be remembered as the guy that was part of that, but it happened. We have to live with the consequences of the things we do and at the end of the day, whatever it takes to get people to tune in, then once they tune in then they can form their opinion of me. They can know me for who I am. But the first thing is to get them to pay attention.

“For as bad as it was and how poorly it represented both him and I, it got people thinking of us.”

Jones was the one to apologize immediately after the skirmish, which he says is the only time he has been involved in an unsanctioned fight as an adult. He, too, knows it’s good for business.

“Now that I’ve been fined, I’ll say whatever I want about that incident,” he said. “I did apologize because it can be distasteful to some, but I’m very aware that a lot of people loved it.

“Most people loved it.”

They’ll have their rematch Jan. 3.

■ JOHNSON REINSTATED — A few days after a civil case stemming from a domestic violence allegation was dismissed, UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Johnson’s indefinite suspension was lifted by the organization.

Now he’s preparing to fight Alexander Gustafsson on Jan. 24 in Sweden to determine the top contender behind Jones and Cormier.

Johnson said Monday after the news conference he’s just excited to be back with the UFC.

“When you have somebody saying stuff like that against you, any human being would be worried because you don’t know what can happen,” he said. “I’m just blessed that it’s behind me. I don’t wish that on my worst enemy, for someone to accuse you of something like that.”

Johnson said he got a call from the UFC just days after his legal issues had been resolved, though he said the timeline was a bit unclear.

“The UFC hit me up. They were happy. I was happy. I think happy is a good thing,” he said. “I was just on cloud nine. I think it was a couple days, but it feels like it was the next day. I’m just glad they called me. That was a cherry on top.”

■ WHAT ANNOUNCEMENT? — UFC officials teased a big announcement for Monday’s news conference, but none was made.

UFC president Dana White opened the event by introducing the organization’s entire schedule for 2015.

The first question from the media was in regards to the “major announcement.”

“We didn’t get it done in time so you can all go home now,” White joked.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.