Daniel Cormier critical of Jon Jones’ mauling of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285: “Tad bit slower, his movements aren’t as quick and dynamic”

Despite easily dispatching of Ciryl Gane to attain the UFC world heavyweight championship at UFC 285, Daniel Cormier wasn’t all impressed with his former foe Jon Jones.

On Saturday past, Jones became the UFC heavyweight champion in his first attempt after moving up to the division. Jones submitted Gane in the first round without breaking a sweat.

Many anticipated Jones would leave the T-Mobile Arena as the rightful champion, but nobody expected him to defeat Ciryl Gane in such a dominant and convincing fashion. Although most praise Jones for his immaculate performance on Saturday night, Cormier still identified some flaws in his game.

During a video on his Youtube channel following the main event, Cormier did credit Jones for what he had achieved but feels it’s a different man that showed up compared to the one who dominated the light heavyweight division for years.

Daniel Cormier weighs in on Jon Jones’ UFC heavyweight debut

“Jones doesn’t look like the same guy in the Octagon. Tad bit slower, his movements aren’t as quick and dynamic, but that’s what you expect from a guy that puts on that much weight, but when he went out there, he seemed to be having a good time.”

Prior to UFC 285, Jones was originally rumoured to make his heavyweight debut against the then-champion Francis Ngannou. In a surprising turn of events, Ngannou parted ways with the UFC, waving goodbye to the dream matchup fans had craved. The Cameroon native’s exit presented Jones and Gane the opportunity to fight for the vacant title.

Having successfully put his name in the heavyweight history books, Jones only has one name on his hitlist, Stipe Miocic, who he called out in his post-fight interview. Having shared the cage on three occasions with Miocic, Cormier believes he will present a bigger challenge than Gane did.

“Nobody has done to Ciryl Gane what we saw done to him tonight, but I would imagine that in Jones’ return, he will have a much steeper challenge as he will be challenged by Stipe Miocic at International Fight Week for the heavyweight championship of the world.”

Stipe next!? 👀@JonnyBones already has his sights set on his first heavyweight title defense #UFC285 pic.twitter.com/DUATmTO99u

— UFC (@ufc) March 5, 2023

The heavyweight showdown is rumored to take place at UFC 290 in Las Vegas on July 8, headlining International Fight Week.

What do you make of Daniel Cormier’s comments about Jon Jones?