Daniel Cormier is a ‘worse matchup for Ngannou’ than Jon Jones, says former UFC heavyweight champion
Although Daniel Cormier is gladly retired, one former UFC heavyweight champion believes he is a worse matchup for Francis Ngannou than Jon Jones is.
At UFC 260, Ngannou became the new heavyweight champion as he scored a second-round KO over Stipe Miocic to win the belt. For Pedro Rizzo, he says he was surprised with the result as he thought Miocic was the better fighter.
“I have to admit that I was expecting [Stipe] Miocic to keep the title. I thought he would take more risks in order to get [Francis] Ngannou to the ground but he didn’t,” Rizzo said to Sherdog. “Of course Francis deserves all the credit, but I still see Miocic as a more well-rounded fighter and if he used a less predictable strategy, he would have kept the belt.”
Although Ngannou looked impressive in the fight as he stuffed Miocic’s takedowns. Many wondered if anyone would beat him and many pointed to Jon Jones as the most likely to defeat him. However, according to Rizzo, he says Cormier has a better chance of beating Ngannou than Jones does.
“Jones used to have problems with fighters of similar range, as we could see against [Alexander] Gustafsson and [Dominick] Reyes. Even gaining some weight, he is not a natural heavyweight with one-punch knockout power. I truly believe that if Daniel Cormier is able to get in shape again, he would be the worse matchup for Ngannou,” Rizzo said.
Why Pedro Rizzo believes Daniel Cormier would beat Francis Ngannou is simple as he points to the Derrick Lewis and Rumble Johnson fights.
“Good examples of that are his fight against Derrick Lewis and both against Anthony Johnson, two beasts with impressive knockout power, and neither could stay on their feet for too long against DC,” Rizzo said. “Cormier just doesn’t accept the standup fight, that´s why I believe he would be such a bad matchup for Ngannou.”
Although Rizzo thinks Cormier is a bad matchup for Ngannou, it’s unlikely the fight will ever happen.
