There were no 9-9-9 or pizza references.

Herman Cain didn't mention two of the most memorable aspects of his own presidential candidacy in an interview Thursday morning, but said Mitt Romney's Wednesday debate showing reminded him of their primary faceoffs.

"I saw the same Mitt Romney that I saw when I was debating him during the Republican primary," the former Republican presidential candidate said Thursday morning on Fox News.

Cain dropped out of the GOP race last December, but before that had shared the stage with Romney - and others vying for the nomination - in nearly two dozen debates leading up to the primaries.

On Thursday, he praised Romney as "prepared" and "knowledgeable," calling the debate a "defining moment" for the GOP candidate.

Cain has previously said that debates are in Romney's wheelhouse, including in a January interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

"Obviously, he's very seasoned, good in the debate situation, and I think he would be a good president," Cain said on CNN's "The Situation Room."

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama demonstrated onstage Thursday that "he does not know how jobs are created" and showed signs of "aggravated class warfare" in his debate performance, Cain said.

Since exiting the race, Cain offered several endorsements, conventional and "unconventional," as well as produced a series of attention-grabbing web videos. He has launched an online video hub and said he will take the reins of a talk radio program next year.