Daniel Cormier reveals what he took away from Jon Jones-Francis Ngannou staredown: “Something changes in him”

UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier has a takeaway from the staredown between UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones and PFL star Francis Ngannou.

Jon Jones attended PFL 5 inside the Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, GA. He was serving as a cornerman when he ran into Francis Ngannou. “Bones” and “The Predator” had a staredown and while there was some gamesmanship, the two were cordial.

For many fight fans, Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou is a huge fight that got away. Ngannou and the UFC couldn’t come to terms on a new deal. As a result, Francis Ngannou is now a PFL fighter, pouring cold water on a Jon Jones fight.

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Daniel Cormier On Jon Jones-Francis Ngannou Faceoff

Daniel Cormier weighed in on the staredown during an episode of ESPN’s “DC & RC,” (h/t MMAFighting.com).

“It’s a big deal but it kind of sucks,” Cormier said on DC & RC. “It just reminds us that it won’t happen. Because now that Francis is gone there’s no way it could ever work. There’s no way it could ever be cross promoted to make it happen.

With that said, Cormier did have one major takeaway from the face-to-face meeting between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou.

“Here’s one thing I took from that honestly, I watched them come up to each other and Francis ain’t afraid of nobody. He’s one of the baddest men on the planet. But as Jon’s grabbing him, touching his arm, and he’s talking to him, something changes in him whenever they’re face-to-face. When Francis starts talking about being the king of the world, Jon said, ‘I’ve always been the king. I’ve always been the best.’ When you look at his facial expression, I’ve seen that before. When him and I would come into our interactions and we were arguing, both of us had this idea that ‘I am the best.’ Nothing is gonna change that. And I could see that wash across his face with Francis and he told him. It showed me in that moment that Jon Jones ain’t afraid of Francis Ngannou. Not at all.”