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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Farah Hannoun

Daniel Cormier: Ciryl Gane seemed ‘intimidated by the moment’ of facing Jon Jones at UFC 285

Was the moment too big for Ciryl Gane at UFC 285? Daniel Cormier believes it was.

Looking back, Cormier thinks Gane was overwhelmed by having to face Jon Jones for the vacant heavyweight title this past Saturday in Las Vegas. Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) was quickly submitted by the retuning Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) as he never had a chance to get going, with Jones taking him down and locking in a guillotine choke for the submission in just over 2 minutes.

Although Gane had told Cormier he wasn’t a fan of Jones, Cormier saw otherwise during the fight.

“It almost felt like the moment was too big for him,” Cormier said on his ESPN show “DC & RC.” “Did you get that feel when the fight started? Did it feel like a letdown on Ciryl Gane’s behalf? Because it seemed like he was intimidated by the moment.”

He continued, “I interviewed Ciryl Gane the other day for my YouTube channel. He said, ‘I’m not a fan of Jon Jones,’ and that was the title because he said, ‘I’ve only been fighting long enough to see what he’s done late in his career, so I can’t idolize the things that he did prior.’ I believed him, and so did so many others. But when the competition started, it did not feel like it when (Jones) walked away from him. There’s a photo that Kevin Holland posted and it said, ‘That’s how you look at a GOAT.’ Ciryl Gane looked shook. He looked so shocked at what had just happened. His eyes were wide open like, ‘I can’t believe this just happened to me.’ You cannot be enamored with the guy that you’re fighting.”

After an unbeaten octagon run, including capturing the interim heavyweight title, Gane now has lost two of his past three – a close decision to former champ Francis Ngannou and now a first-round submission to Jones.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.

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