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Cormier: Velasquez beats Jones, Cain's the greatest fighter I've been locked in a cage with

Daniel Cormier says Cain Velasquez -- not Jon Jones -- is the greatest fighter he's ever traded punches with. The UFC light heavyweight champion would not only pick Velasquez over Jones, but also over himself.

By Nick Baldwin
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Daniel Cormier has never officially competed against his longtime friend and training partner, Cain Velasquez, and never will. But he doesn’t need to square off against the former heavyweight champion with thousands of people in attendance — sparring sessions at American Kickboxing Academy will do — to know that Velasquez is the best fighter he has traded punches with.

Not Jon Jones.

"Today was tough because I got to spar the greatest fighter I've ever been locked in a cage with," Cormier wrote in a recent Instagram post. "This is no joke [Velasquez] is by far the best guy I've ever gone with."

Not only does the current UFC light heavyweight champion believe Velasquez is the greatest fighter he’s ever sparred or fought, but he would also be confident in Velasquez to pull off the win against Jones, the current interim light heavyweight titleholder, would they ever fight.

Cormier even admitted Velasquez would top him, as well.

It would indeed be interesting to see if Cormier’s prediction of Velasquez over Jones would come true. Velasquez vs. Jones was once a strongly desired fight when both were at the top of their respective divisions, but with Velasquez no longer the champion and Jones not as interested at a move up to heavyweight as he once was, the super-fight is becoming less and less likely as the days pass.

Cormier defends his title against Jones in a highly anticipated rematch in the main event of UFC 200 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 9. Velasquez looks to rebound from his title loss last year on the same card in a fight with Travis Browne.

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