Daniel Cormier has backed his old rival Jon Jones by insisting ‘Bones’ isn’t “afraid” of Francis Ngannou.
‘The Predator’ surprised a lot of people on Saturday night by knocking out Stipe Miocic to win the UFC heavyweight title. The UFC 260 main event was always going to be dramatic, however Ngannou’s emphatic knockout was felt throughout the whole heavyweight division.
Jon Jones gets an unlikely ally
The next step seems to be Ngannou vs Jon Jones for the strap. At least, that’s what feels like the obvious choice.
UFC president Dana White made it clear during his post-fight press conference that if they can’t come to an agreement with Jones, they may well move on to Derrick Lewis or perhaps the Stipe Miocic trilogy.
During an episode of DC & Helwani, Cormier game his own thoughts on the situation.
“Jon Jones, for everything that’s between us, is not afraid of Francis Ngannou.” Cormier explained.
“Here’s where you start to play the game if you’re Dana and Jones. Jones wants his money, Dana has to show that he has options,
“That’s all that’s happening, right? High level negotiations is what’s going on right now.”
Some had suggested that plans for the fight had been stalled as Jones wasn’t interested in facing the new champ.
“Make no mistake about it, Jones believes that he will beat Francis Ngannou. As any great champion would believe that they would beat him,” Cormier continued.
“Now, is that the case? I don’t know. But Jon Jones is one of the most talented guys that I’ve ever seen inside the octagon. And if you have to find someone that can piece together a way to solve that puzzle, it’s Jon Jones. Let’s not be crazy here.”
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