Daniel Cormier explains where Jon Jones will ‘never match’ Ciryl Gane ahead of UFC 285 heavyweight title fight
Daniel Cormier thinks Jon Jones will have to rely on being the more skilled fighter if he’s to become the UFC heavyweight champion this weekend.
‘Bones’ will fight for the first time in three years when he squares off against Ciryl Gane for the undisputed heavyweight title at UFC 285 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
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The former two-time UFC light-heavyweight champion recently showed off his body transformation after spending the past few years bulking up to physically compete with the biggest and baddest fighters in MMA.
Following their intense two-fight rivalry, ‘DC’ understands more than most what Jones is good at and where he is lacking.
Cormier said on his ': “I think he’s going to have to use his skill because I tell you this right now – Jones did not punch very hard.
“Like, that was one of the things that stood out about him. Now, he kneed hard, he kicked hard, he elbowed hard. He did a lot of things very well. But in terms of his punching ability, he didn’t have jarring power.
“Now, gaining 30 pounds, maybe he gets a bit of a heavier punch, but he will never match Ciryl Gane in terms of the punching power. He’s going to need his skill in order to do this.”
Jones was able to dominate at light-heavyweight for his entire career but Cormier is not sure he’ll be able to replicate that success after surrendering his physical advantage by jumping up a division.
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He added: “Here’s the issue, Ciryl Gane possesses a lot of those same skills. He can stand on the outside and fight, he can pot shot you from the outside, and he does possess jarring power when he does land.
"Jon Jones always had a bit of a size advantage over a lot of the guys that he fought at 205 too. That’s going to be missing. But when you look at Jones, he looks bigger.
“But a lot of the weight is up top. His bottom half still looks pretty slim. You look at Ciryl Gane, it looks like somebody stuck an air pump in that dude’s mouth and just started pumping.
“He looks huge, but he only weighs about 250 pounds. He’s not heavy. He’s just lean, he’s ripped, and he’s big, and he’s strong. This is a very big challenge for Jon Jones.”
Cormier retired from the sport in August 2020 and became one of the UFC’s main commentators. Despite his long-running feud with Jones, he’ll be working at UFC 285 and apparently his nemesis is fine about it.
UFC legend Joe Rogan and Jon Anik will join the former dual-weight champion to call the biggest fight of the year at the T-Mobile Arena in two days’ time.
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