Pedro Rizzo shares his take on the “worst matchup” for UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou

MMA legend Pedro Rizzo recently shared his take on who is the “worst matchup” for newly crowned UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

Ngannou (16-3 MMA) captured the title of “baddest man on the planet” last month at UFC 260 when he defeated Stipe Miocic by way of second round knockout. The victory marked Ngannou’s fifth in a row, as he had previously scored first round stoppage wins over Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, Curtis Blaydes and Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

While much of the talk around the MMA community has surrounded a possible super-fight between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou, former 3x UFC heavyweight title challenger Pedro Rizzo believes a different fighter poses the biggest risk to ‘The Predator’.

Image Credits: UFC on Instagram

According to Rizzo (20-11 MMA), an in-shape Daniel Cormier would cause more problems for Ngannou when compared to Jones.

“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,” Rizzo explained to Sherdog (via LowKickMMA). “I truly believe that if Daniel Cormier is able to get in shape again, he would be the worst matchup for Ngannou.”

Pedro Rizzo continued:

“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. Cormier just doesn’t accept the standup fight, that´s why I believe he would be such a bad matchup for Ngannou.”

Cormier of course retired from MMA following his unanimous decision loss to Stipe Miocic in their trilogy fight at UFC 252.

Image via @dc_mma on Instagram (photographer not listed)

Rizzo fought for the UFC heavyweight crown on three occasions during his illustrious career, but fell short in his attempts against Randy Couture (x2) and the late Kevin Randleman.

Do you agree with Pedro Rizzo that former UFC ‘champ champ’ Daniel Cormier is the “worst mathup” possible for newly crowned heavyweight kingpin Francis Ngannou? Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!