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John Thomson and John McCarthy believe that Francis Ngannou's knockout power will make him a more challenging opponent for Jon Jones than Cyril Gane.
Jones vacated the 205 lbs championship in May 2020 following a pay dispute with the UFC and expressed a desire to move up to the heavyweight division. 'Bones' is eyeing a return to the octagon at MSG in April or during International Fight Week in July.
Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane are the two top names in the current UFC heavyweight scenario. Ngannou is the champion while Gane holds the interim championship.
In a clip posted to the Weighing In Xtra YouTube channel, Thomson stated that Jones would walk through Gane. However, he felt that Ngannou would present a stiffer test for the 34-year-old:
"At the end of the day, I think Ciryl Gane is a perfect match-up for him. I think Jon [Jones] is able to walk right through him. I think Francis Ngannou is the harder fight for him... With the threat of being knocked out, Jon is going to fight more cautiously. He will not be concerned about getting knocked out by Ciryl Gane."
McCarthy chimed in and said Gane's grappling wouldn't trouble Jones either:
"And he will not be concerned by any part of Ciryl Gane's ground game. He will not end up underneath him."
Thomson then emphasized that Jones was an extraordinary talent who was capable of making the adjustments required to win.
Check out the clip below:
Josh Thomson disagrees with Daniel Cormier's prediction that Jon Jones won't win the UFC heavyweight championship
Josh Thomson doesn't concur with Daniel Cormier's opinion that Jon Jones will fall short in his pursuit of heavyweight gold. Thomson dismissed the former Olympian's take as "clickbait."
The former Strikeforce lightweight champion believes that Jones will be a two-division champion:
"Do I think that Jon Jones Is going to be a champion at some point? Absolutely. I think he will. I'm not favoring the 'DC' comment. 'DC' is doing it for the clickbait, ladies, and gentlemen. That's what 'DC' does. He does it in the gym too, with us. And he gets us all riled up. He's great at that."
Francis Ngannou will defend the heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. While there hasn't been an official confirmation, the winner of the fight could be Jones' next opponent.
Check out the entire episode of the Weighing In Podcast below:
