Now that rehearsal has taken priority over planning, Jackson-Wink MMA head coach Mike Winkeljohn expects Jon Jones to put on a better performance in a rematch with Daniel Cormier.

“We’ve already got the game plan put together – now it’s almost easier in some ways, because we continue working it,” Winkeljohn told MMAjunkie Radio.

It’s a welcome shift after Team Jones was forced to scramble in the wake of an injury to champ Daniel Cormier, which put Ovince Saint Preux in the octagon opposite Jones at this past month’s UFC 197.

Although Jones (22-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) wound up dominating Saint Preux (19-8 MMA, 7-3 UFC) to claim the UFC interim light heavyweight title, he was displeased with his work and faced critics who said he was rusty after a 15-month layoff from competition. Cormier (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) used the showing to mock Jones, promising an easy win if the same fighter showed up when they meet at July’s UFC 200.

Jones said before the fight his team had advised against taking the bout with Saint Preux, presumably for the reasons that played out at this past month’s pay-per-view headliner. Winkeljohn admitted the matchup was a “rougher situation” due to Saint Preux’s height, physical size and stance. Because there wasn’t as much time to adjust to those differences, the former undisputed champ wound up looking more human than usual in the cage.

Contrast that with Cormier, for whom the team has been preparing for months, and you have the recipe for the type of Jones fight that leaves no doubt about his status as the best light heavyweight in the world.

“We’ve been training for it for a while, so I think it’s going to be an easier fight for Jon,” Winkeljohn said.

There’s no doubt there will be adjustments after Jones’ last trip to the cage, after which the interim champ admitted he was hesitant to fully commit to the fight over concerns of losing the chance to face rival Cormier. Winkeljohn’s coaching partner, Greg Jackson, was overheard being critical of Jones’ powerlifting regimen in the months leading up to the fight. Overall, though, the process will involve whittling down the strategies that work and discarding the ones that don’t.

Jones and Co. already have one fight from which to pull inspiration, a one-sided meeting with Cormier at UFC 182 that ended in a unanimous decision and the eighth defense of a title he lost in the wake of a hit-and-run accident.

“It’s different things,” Winkeljohn said. “Overall game plan, we know we can win here, and you get more detailed on the tactics as you get closer and closer to it, and you find out that works, that doesn’t work. So you start fine-tuning. But almost immediately, you put together an overall strategy, and you start fine-tuning the closer you get.”

The actual strategy might vary from what’s advertised by the fighter and his coaches. To Winkeljohn, it’s no secret there’s a certain amount of gamesmanship that goes into what’s promised in public versus what actually transpires when the action starts.

“We do it all the time,” he said, joking, “But here’s the deal – they do it to us, too. So we know what they’re doing. But they know we know. But they know that we know that they know.”

There’s one thing Winkeljohn can guarantee when Jones and Cormier meet a second time to unify the UFC light heavyweight title on July 9 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena (main card fights air live on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass).

“(Jones) is going to hit him with some really, really, really hard elbows,” the coach said.

For more on UFC 200, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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