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The UFC world got hype after the organization officially announced Jon Jones will be making his heavyweight debut on March fourth.
It should be a solid fight, as he’s taking on Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title. Now, Daniel Cormier weighs in on the upcoming bout.
At first, many believed Jones would face Francis Ngannou in the cage. Instead, the former champion chose not to re-sign a contract with the UFC. So, now we have Jon Jones facing off against Ciryl Gane. Daniel Cormier weighs in on the situation and believes Gane is actually a tougher matchup for the former light heavyweight champion.
According to MMA Fighting, after the Ngannou-Jones fight couldn’t come to fruition, Daniel Cormier believes the matchup with Gane instead is much more difficult. “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. 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…”
Daniel Cormier further explains his reasoning by stating, “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.”
And there you have it. Daniel Cormier believes that Ciryl Gane’s movement could be the deciding factor to defeat Jon Jones.
We won’t know for sure though until March fourth when these two face off. Cormier makes some good points analyzing the matchup. However, considering it’s Jon Jones, you can never rule him out.