Daniel Cormier on Jake Paul: “This dude would never fight me, I would kill him”

Former two-weight UFC champion Daniel Cormier voiced his annoyance with Jake Paul and some of his team on Saturday, notably their disrespect for Tyron Woodley in the locker room, but took some time to discuss Paul’s boxing game earnestly following Jake’s win Saturday over Ben Askren.

“It’s time to stop calling this kid a YouTuber, because the kid has the understanding and fundamentals of boxing. Are they high level fundamentals? No, but he does understand,” Cormier said on DC & Helwani.

“If he continues to fight guys like this, he will continue to look as he’s looked. But the moment he fights somebody that has a better understanding of boxing, that combination isn’t going to land as effectively, and even if it does, he’s not gonna just be putting these dudes out. Guys are gonna start rolling with the punch, they’re gonna stop reacting so bad to the jab to the body.”

Commenting on Paul trying to insult Cormier on Twitter, the MMA legend shrugged it off, basically, saying he doesn’t “punch down.”

“This dude would never fight me. I would kill him. Why would I ever fight someone like that?” Cormier said. “But my immediate reaction was, ‘I can’t stand this kid.’ So it works! I can’t stand this kid! But who punches down? You don’t punch down to somebody. I’m the guy that’s in the Hall of Fame. I’m the guy that won two world championships at the same time.

“I’m not gonna punch down to some kid that’s on YouTube that’s, like, ‘Fight me!’ Like, why? What have you done to earn the right to fight me? So, no, it’s silly and stupid. But I would like him to fight Tyron. I would like to see him fight somebody more real. Don’t fight Ben Askren at 190, bloated.

“Fight a middleweight (185 lbs in MMA). Fight Luke Rockhold! Let me see you fight Luke Rockhold or somebody like that. And then I will not only say that you have base skills, I will say you’re a real fighter. Because right now it’s all pretend. It’s all pretend.”