Daniel Cormier changes mind on Jon Jones beating Francis Ngannou - "You got pushed to the limits by Dominick Reyes"

Daniel Cormier is no longer certain that Jon Jones defeating Francis Ngannou is a foregone conclusion.

After losing the first two rounds of his fight against Ciryl Gane, Ngannou took control with his improved wrestling and scored four takedowns en route to a unanimous decision victory. This was the UFC heavyweight champion's first title defense and he put on quite a performance.

In a clip posted to his YouTube channel, Daniel Cormier revealed that he initially thought Jon Jones was a certainty to defeat Ngannou after watching the main event of UFC 270.

However, upon further reflection, he felt that 'The Predator' was weighed down by several mitigating circumstances during his latest title defense. He also pointed out that 'Bones' was pushed to the limit by Dominick Reyes.

"I thought about the burden Francis carried into that fight. I thought about all the chatter from Tyson, to the contract, to coach Lopez, to the teammate thing, to the knee injury no one knew about prior. He was carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders and those big shoulders were not only strong enough to fight but keep his title. That's another thing: Jones hasn't fought. He keeps talking. We want to see the guy go fight... The last time we saw you was two years. The people that watched you fight those fights thought to themselves exactly what you're thinking now about Francis Ngannou. But Francis was hurt, you just got pushed to the limits by Dominick Reyes," said Cormier.

DC added that he initially thought Gane would pose greater problems for Jones than Ngannou. But he didn't feel that was the case any longer after seeing the Frenchman's vulnerability against wrestling.

Check out the clip below:

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Michael Bisping talks about Jon Jones' path to victory vs Francis Ngannou

As evidenced by his victory over Ciryl Gane, Francis Ngannou has come a long way since his defeat to Stipe Miocic at UFC 220. In addition to his improved wrestling, 'The Predator' also displayed an incredible amount of grit to fight through a knee injury and defeat his former training partner.

When he returns to the octagon after rehab, a dream match with Jon Jones could be on the cards for the Cameroonian fighter. Michael Bisping believes that 'Bones' needs to use his wrestling if he wants to defeat Ngannou. During a recent interview with Submission Radio, 'The Count' stated that Jones could get knocked out if the fight stayed on the feet:

"It all depends on Jon Jones' wrestling. If Jon can't take him down, he ain't beating Francis Ngannou. I don't care about, 'Oh, he's the master of gameplans,' and all this kind of stuff. If you're forced to stand toe-to-toe with Francis Ngannou, and you cannot take him down, Jon's probably going to get knocked out."

Here's the full interview: