Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones
Now that Francis Ngannou has signed with the PFL, the idea of Jon Jones fighting him is just that: an idea.
Jones vs. Ngannou is arguably the biggest (in more ways than one) of the many fantastic fantasy matchups fans have longed to witness in MMA history. After a disappointing second title defense from 2018–2020, UFC light heavyweight champion Jones finally made the jump to heavyweight after teasing the move for a decade.
Jones took three years off to focus on his personal development, and during that time a lot transpired in the mixed martial arts world as well as in his own life. The primary reason Ngannou vs. Jones is being discussed so much is that Ngannou recently become the heavyweight champion with a thundering knockout of his former rival and legendary champion Stipe Miocic. Several negotiation problems and failed discussions ultimately resulted in the match never happening, and instead, both fighters won titles in their most recent bouts against Ciryl Gane.
While Jones was on hiatus from competition, he began to train with some new people, including two-division champion and former UFC lightweight Henry Cejudo. In the end, “Triple C” doesn’t think the bout is significant to “Bones'” storied career in the sport:
“Getting a chance to know Jon, I don’t think Jon really cares. I don’t think Jon needs a guy like Francis Ngannou to be able to say that he is the greatest of all-time. The reality is Jon doesn’t need any of those guys. The guy he probably does want to beat is the greatest heavyweight of all-time, his name is Stipe Miocic. At the end of the day, people will look at the credentials, people will look at the numbers, and people will see that Stipe Miocic is the baddest heavyweight on the roster in UFC history. Numbers don’t lie. As a matter of fact, he has a win over Francis Ngannou … a domination that he had for five rounds.”
Francis Ngannou has joined the Professional Fighters League (PFL) after leaving the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) at the beginning of the year.
The 36-year-old Ngannou parted ways with the UFC in January after failing to negotiate a new contract. The Cameroonian was anticipated to defend his heavyweight title against Jon Jones, but he turned down an $8 million contract to face the UFC legend in order to pursue other opportunities.
After months of negotiations, Ngannou will now compete for the PFL, with his debut in the promotion’s pay-per-view super-fight division scheduled for next year.
Conor McGregor was recently questioned about his opinion of Francis Ngannou accepting an offer to join another promotion (PFL) by Ariel Helwani in an interview. The Irishman said that he was pleased to hear that the former heavyweight champion had landed a lucrative deal, but that he thought the fighter should have stayed with the UFC. He said:
“I’m happy for Francis first of all, fair play…he done his thing. I still think he should’ve came to a resolution with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Who is he gonna fight? Who is he gonna fight that’s gonna capture the general public? There’s no one.”
“There’s no matchup that I can think of that I can even say to myself that it’s gonna do big…That is commendable for sure [Ngannou’s opponents receiving minimum $2 millon] and like I said, I’m happy for him. I just don’t see a buzz on an annoucement.“
Check out the interview below:
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