Cain Velasquez claims he would beat Francis Ngannou and use his wrestling to overcome Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones in his prime.
The former UFC heavyweight champion last fought in the octagon in February 2019 against current PFL star Ngannou.
The Californian was knocked out by ‘The Predator’ inside 26 seconds of the first round following a three-year MMA hiatus, which ultimately caused him to retire.
Two years later, Ngannou would go on to win the heavyweight belt, that Velasquez once wore, by knocking out Stipe Miocic at UFC 260.
But, that hasn’t stopped Velasquez from claiming he would have no issues in defeating the Cameroon fighter if they fought in his prime.
“With his takedown defence, [if I got] a clean takedown on him, I’m taking him down and I’m winning there,” Velasquez said on Basement Talk.
“But he’s so dangerous with his hands, so dangerous, so much power, so much danger there. It’s a tricky fight because of that.”
Velasquez won the UFC’s heavyweight title for the first time after beating Brock Lesnar in October 2010 at UFC 121.
The pair would meet again nine years down the line in a slightly different environment.
The two-time UFC heavyweight champion signed a multi-year deal with the WWE in October 2019 after retiring from his octagon duties.
He then faced ‘The Beast Incarnate’ at the Crown Jewel, a pay-per-view event in Saudi Arabia.
“Jon Jones, prime Cain, that would be a tough fight,” Velasquez added, speaking on how he would fare against current UFC heavyweight champion ‘Bones’.
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“You know what, with that dude, he’s a boogeyman. I think that would’ve been the best match-up because I would’ve had something for him. I could go where he wanted to go.”
After winning the title from Lesnar, Velasquez fell to MMA legend Junior Dos Santos in his next bout.
That was the first time the American had suffered a defeat in the UFC after nine bouts.
But it didn’t take long for the heavyweight veteran to reclaim the belt, beating Dos Santos in a rematch one year later.
Velasquez would then embark on a two-fight win streak, beating Antonio Silva and Dos Santos again in their trilogy fight.
He then dropped the championship to Brazil’s Fabricio Werdum two years later in what would be the last title fight of his MMA career.
Velasquez, however, doesn’t believe it would be the same outcome against Britain’s Tom Aspinall – the current UFC interim heavyweight champion.
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“Aspinall as well, especially with the wrestling. I just know that when I grab someone’s leg, I’m taking them down,” he added.
“He’s very dangerous with his hands, has a lot of power. What he does, he lunges forward and punches, he takes a big step, lunges forward, closes that distance really well, but with that, when somebody is wrestling, it’s like, okay, you’re coming into my takedowns.”
Apsinall retained his interim status against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in Manchester, knocking him out inside one minute of the first round.
The Salford-born man has the shortest average fight time out of any current fighter signed to the UFC by Dana White.
Jones defends his heavyweight belt against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November, with rumours circulating that it could be his last-ever fight in the octagon.
