Rewind: Watching UFC 182 through the eyes of Jon Jones

— -- UFC interim light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (22-1) is a 3-to-1 favorite July 9 in his unification bout at UFC 200 against divisional champ Daniel Cormier (17-1).

Jones dealt Cormier the only loss of his career at UFC 182 in January 2015. Watching the first meeting again with ESPN's Phil Murphy, Jones remembered the moment at which the fight -- and his eighth title defense -- were secure.

"Round 3 is when I knew, OK, I could beat this guy for sure, no problem," said Jones, who held a 92-58 advantage in significant strikes. "I remember thinking, 'Wow, this guy can't hurt me.'

"Round 4 is when I was certain there was no way I was going to allow him to come back. My clinch was tiring him out. I thought I'd stay in the pocket with him. Almost like my own version of a Rope-a-Dope."

Jones was a 2-to-1 favorite entering their first bout, so three judges' submitting 49-46 scorecards in his favor came as no shock. But what did surprise those watching was the ease with which Jones was able to outwrestle Cormier. Cormier previously had never allowed a takedown in MMA -- a record Jones erased barely 40 seconds into the fight.

"Daniel Cormier, his best years were back in 2004 when he was in the Olympics," said Jones, who went 3-for-5 in takedown attempts at UFC 182. "That's just the way it works. When you spend time away from a sport, you tend not to be as good as you used to be. I've learned to not really respect his credentials."

Jones was stripped of his light heavyweight title by the UFC in April 2015 following a felony arrest for his involvement in a hit-and-run in New Mexico. Cormier captured the vacant title with a victory over Anthony Johnson one month later at UFC 187. 

A rematch between Jones and Cormier was scratched ahead of UFC 197 when Cormier withdrew due to injury, and Jones defeated late-replacement Ovince Saint Preux for the interim title.  

"Now my confidence will be even stronger going into our rematch," Jones said. "I'll be actually training to take him down, where before I was mainly training not be taken down."