Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier, who was once Jon Jones’ arch-rival, believes that Jones’ next opponent is tougher than he looks. With Jones set to make his heavyweight debut against former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane in March, Cormier took to his YouTube channel to declare that Ciryl Gane could be a more dangerous opponent for Jones than the freshly deposed champ, Francis Ngannou.
“I thought Jon vs. Francis was the biggest and my most anticipated fight because of the dangers that Francis Ngannou presents to Jon Jones with the power and everything.
DC: Ciryl Gane is More Difficult for Jon Jones than Ngannou
But let’s not go crazy and act as if Jon Jones hasn’t seen power before. He’s seen power. Nothing like the power of Ngannou, but I believe that what he has now may be a more difficult style matchup in Ciryl Gane.
Ciryl Gane’s movement, and the way that he attacks is going to make him very difficult for Jones, because as good as Jones is, Jones isn’t a guy that moves very much.
He’s very stationary and going forward. He’s long, so he uses those long range weapons to really take control of guys like me and other guys he’s fought in the octagon.
But he’s not a guy that moves around and creates a ton of angles. A lot of straight and long range weapons. The issue is with Ciryl Gane, you’re going to have a big guy who possesses a lot of those same qualities, with the ability to move. Go back and watch Jones, he’s pretty flatfooted. Gane isn’t.”
Cormier continued, admitting that his old foe had “some advantages” in the matchup. “Jones still holds some advantages, though. I think his fight I.Q. is unmatched. I think his preparation is going to be really, really high level, especially seeing that he’s working with Henry Cejudo.
Whatever you may think of Cejudo, he’s a brilliant fight mind. He’s a brilliant competitive mind. There aren’t many people like Henry Cejudo in the history of sports, so Jones going there is a very smart decision.”
DC also offered some advice to his old rival. “Isn’t it a bit ironic that Jon Jones is fighting for a vacant heavyweight championship?
Do you guys remember what I went through when I won the belt? Now, it’s different, Jon hasn’t fought Francis before but isn’t it ironic that he’s in this situation now. My advice to you now, Jon, is if you win the fight, get thick skin, because people will be unrelenting.
Right now, because Francis left, it’s almost like, ‘Francis avoided Jones.’ That’s not true. Francis would have fought Jon Jones on any day of the week. Let’s not get crazy fans. But trust me, Jones, it’s going to flip to, ‘Is he the real champion because he didn’t beat Francis Ngannou?’ if you win that fight against Ciryl Gane.”
Is DC right about Jones vs Ngannou? Let us know in the comments.
