This past weekend, Francis Ngannou successfully defended his UFC heavyweight title, taking home a unanimous decision over Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 270. Ngannou, who had a difficult start to the bout, relied heavily on his previously untapped wrestling and grappling skills to win the final rounds. It was the sort of performance that many felt was underwhelming, including prospective title challenger Jon Jones, who made it clear that he was not impressed with Ngannou’s performance. Enter Daniel Cormier.

Earlier this month, Cormier predicted that both Ngannou and Gane would beat Jones should they fight, and speaking on his personal YouTube channel yesterday, Cormier admitted to reconsidering this stance after watching Ngannou struggle against Gane. Cormier warns Jones and anyone else not to read too much into the fight after reflecting on it.

“I took a few days to think about this after UFC 270 because the moment I left the arena in Anaheim I thought to myself, ‘I think Jones beats both of them,'” Cormier said. “I really did, after watching them in that fight, think to myself – and then talking to Henry Cejudo and other people – I was like, ‘Man, I think Jones might be them both.’ So I was ready to admit I was wrong. I wanted to say that Jones defeated them all. …

“Then I listened to Francis talk to Ariel (Helwani) and all his contract stuff and it really dawned on me, because even in the buildup we talked about this, Francis has so much going on, and then right before the fight, I’m in the locker room and we get information that he’s dealing with a very severe knee injury and I was thinking, ‘Man, he may not get through this.’ But then he gets through it in the most unexpected way you could ever imagine, with him taking Ciryl Gane down in the ways that he did.

“And as I thought about all those things, I thought to myself, ‘Maybe Jones does beat him,’ and I’m watching Jones’ Tweets and him almost celebrating, ‘Wow, this fight gives me a ton of confidence.’ You’d better slow down. Because I was an outsider, you have to slow down. We were not used to seeing Francis Ngannou Saturday. We saw a man who could adjust quickly – something Francis has never done before and yet keep his title.”

Ngannou was dealing with a tremendous number of distractions heading into UFC 270. The champion tore ligaments in his knee a few weeks before the bout, had a messy contract dispute with the UFC looming, and was fighting a man coached by his own former coach, who he was not on good terms with. The fact that Ngannou was able to retain his title amidst all that, Cormier says, is something to be lauded, not criticized.

“Jon said something to the effect of, ‘If this is the apex predator in the division, I’m excited about it.’ We’re talking about a wounded king of the jungle,” Cormier said. “And if the wounded king of the jungle is still the best heavyweight in the world, maybe we should look at it a different way. Francis is unable to walk so maybe we should not judge him as harshly. All the Tyson Fury talks and the coach Lopez talking at Francis can take their toll. It’s wonderful to beat someone who was once called the future heavyweight division.

That being said, Cormier also isn’t able to completely discount what happened on Saturday. Jones, a former champion in two divisions, admits Jones had a better chance against Ngannou even with the outside factors.

” I feel less certain today than ever in the guys beating Jon Jones,” Cormier stated. “Because ultimately, Jones is a competitor and he’s a competitor at the highest level, and when you give a competitor like that – wounded or not – that visual, he feels now more invincible than he’s ever felt in his entire life. And I’m not one to give Jones compliments easy. Jones is a great fighter. Now, he’s working with Henry Cejudo. And after his last fight, you can’t doubt that Henry Cejudo knows what a good fighter looks like. You know that going into this fight Jones is going to have a masterful game plan, he’s going to have everything in order to give himself the best opportunity to win a fight against the champion.

“I think Jones matches up better with Francis than I thought initially, because Jones is smart in there. Jones will take advantage of opportunities to minimize risks and allow himself to fight. Is that a guarantee he will win? I’m not certain. However, I can tell you that he will compete far better than many of us believed. But we can’t judge Francis on last weekend. That’s the king of the jungle and he was wounded, but if there’s a time you want to fight him it’s right now, because he’s gonna be coming off a real injury.”

But whether Jones will get that opportunity is completely up in the air. Ngannou is set to undergo surgery for his injured knee that will likely sideline him for the rest of the year and we may have already seen the last of the heavyweight champion anyway. Cormier hopes so.

“All I can hope is that the UFC and Francis Ngannou comes to terms so we have more experiences watching Francis Ngannou do his thing,” Cormier concluded. “Because every single time it is an event and I am hoping and praying that last weekend wasn’t the last Francis Ngannou event I get to call.”

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TOP STORIES

Fire. Charles Oliveira defends lightweight title against Justin Gaethje at UFC 274.

Weak. Francis Ngannou’s coach: Dana White’s absence after UFC 270 win was ‘a weak move’.

Busy. Dana White addresses why he didn’t put title around Francis Ngannou’s waist after UFC 270.

Out. Francis Ngannou to undergo knee surgery, recovery likely in ‘9 to 10 months’.

Galaxy Brain. Fernand Lopez told Ciryl Gane not to kick Francis Ngannou’s knee, thought injury rumors were ‘bait’.

Bold. Kamaru Uman thought about fighting Jan Blachowicz to win the light heavyweight title.

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VIDEO STEW

The MMA Hour.

Kamaru Usman on how he spent his first million dollars.

Vanessa Demopoulos becoming a star overnight.

Training with Khabib

Ngannou

Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker.

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LISTEN UP

Heavy Hands. Discussing t he best fights from UFC 270.

UFC Unfiltered. Interviews with Matt Frevola and Maxx Crosby.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Goals.

Jake Paul remains on Dana White.

Game on.

Miesha Tate has been invited to Celebrity Big Brother.

A new tattoo to honor the champion.

Nate Diaz.

She said she said.

Khamzat Chimaev and Yaroslav Omosov in wrestling.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Kleber Koike (28-5-1) vs. Ulka Sasaki (23-9-2); RIZIN, Feb. 23.

Kenji Kato (13-7) vs. Kazuma Kuramoto (8-2); RIZIN, Feb. 23.

Suguru Nii (12-11) vs. Sora Yamamoto (12-6-2); RIZIN, Feb. 23.

Charles Oliveira (32-8, 1 NC) vs. Justin Gaethje (23-3); UFC 274, May 7.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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