“Like I said before this fight, I knew Jon Jones was an athlete,” the Frenchman told MMA Junkie. “He is an athlete just like me. He devotes a lot of time to sports, and so do I. Not only physically, but also psychologically. I knew he would be well prepared for this fight. He trained a lot during those three years, so it didn’t come as a surprise to me.”
“I don’t know exactly why, but I didn’t feel the distance, and therefore I made a mistake. I was unable to control the distance, and I did something to break this trend, and at that moment I made a mistake ”
“Maybe he knew in advance that I would make this mistake and took the opportunity. During the entire training camp, Fernand Lopez told me – only the jab and no power punches. Only jab. And what did I do? Invested in a hit. It was a big mistake and he took the opportunity.”
“John wasn’t fast, but I wasn’t very fast either and couldn’t control the distance. I didn’t do my best, but I do remember that John didn’t look fast. His hands were not fast. His punches were powerful – I remember that because at some point he hooked me, but they weren’t fast.”
Recall that on September 2, Cyril Gan, along with Sergey Spivak, will head the UFC Fight Night 226 tournament in Paris, and Jon Jones on November 11 at UFC 295 in New York will defend his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic.