Daniel Cormier is reacting to the news that Jon Jones will finally be making his debut at heavyweight and will be facing Ciryl Gane.
For the past two years, the MMA world has been waiting patiently for Jon Jones to find an opponent for his first official bout at heavyweight. When he decided to leave his light heavyweight title behind in search of the title “Baddest Man on the Planet” many had thought that he would be taking on former champion Francis Ngannou. Ngannou was the champ when Jones announced his move and it seemed the two were on a crash course with each other. Now it is another MMA fighter hailing from France who will get that chance, Ciryl Gane.
The UFC made this bout official over the weekend and fans began to react. The news of Jones vs. Gane fighting for the title came paired with the fact that Ngannou will be released from the organization. One man who has faced Jones several times over his career, Daniel Cormier is now reacting to this news.
Daniel Cormier gives his take on Jones and the UFC heavyweight division in a new video
Daniel Cormier has some history with Jones and the heavyweight division. He faced Jones twice at 205 pounds and later held the belt at heavyweight. Now he is giving his thoughts on this matchup between Jones and Gane.
“I believe what he has now may be a more difficult style match-up in Ciryl Gane,” he said on his YouTube channel. “Hate that Francis is gone, love that Jones is at heavyweight, love that it’s against Ciryl Gane also. Hate that Stipe Miocic has somehow gotten lost in the whole mix of all this.”
Cormier touches a little on Ngannou’s departure but it did not really come as a surprise to him. Ngannou and the UFC have been at a negotiation standstill for a while now and now he is a free agent. Cormier turned his attention to this new championship match-up and how he feels each fighter will stack up.
“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 said. “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.”
There is a question mark surrounding Jones at this time. He has not fought in over two years and has been bulking up quite a bit over that time away. Cormier thinks Jones will still have the upper hand in some areas in this fight.
“Jones still holds some advantages, though,” Cormier said. “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.”
This heavyweight championship bout will be taking place on March 4 at UFC 285. The event will be held in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
