Jon Jones is the man of the moment after his victory at UFC 285. Taking on Ciryl Gane, Jones put in an exemplary performance, finishing the fight in the first round. However, despite the dominant finish, Francis Ngannou has different views on the fight.
Making his way up to heavyweight, there were a lot of doubts as to how Jones would adapt. Moreover, coming off a 3-year layoff, there were a lot of questions regarding Jon’s fitness levels as well. However, Bones simply crushed all doubts and reclaimed his GOAT status in style.
Interestingly, former heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou had his own observations from the fight. “What I did notice is that Jon was rushing. Jon didn’t want to give him space, because I think he was afraid of something. Maybe he’d get exhausted at some point, not be able to grab him, so he was chasing him from the first minute to grab him. It worked out pretty good, but it tells me something like he wasn’t very confident, he was rushing, which is good for him.”
As such, Ngannou believes that Jones was likely facing ‘ring rust’ and wanted to end the fight quickly. Additionally, Ngannou feels that Jones was afraid of gassing out and being unable to get a hold of Ciryl Gane. Unfortunately, a lot of fans have flamed Ngannou for his “L take” on the fight. According to some, it is a hypocritical statement, seeing that Ngannou would try to end most of his fights within the first round as well.
Will Jon Jones ever fight Francis Ngannou?
Following Jon’s amazing victory over Gane at UFC 285, many fans wondered what would have happened had it been Ngannou facing him instead. As was the original plan, Jones and Ngannou were meant to face off where The Predator would defend his title once again. Unfortunately, due to unsuccessful contract negotiations, Francis opted to part ways with the UFC instead.
Prior to the fight, Jones seemingly made a U-turn on Ngannou’s exit. After praising him for standing his ground, Jones began accusing Francis of running away. Even in his post-fight conference, Jon had a rather profane response to Ngannou’s tweet, calling him “a big old p*ssy“.
Similarly, UFC President Dana White was also pretty clear about his thoughts on a potential return for Ngannou. According to the head honcho, Francis will “never be in the UFC again”. This was alarming, considering that Dana almost never gives a definitive answer to such things. Further, Dana also predicted that a fight between Jones and Francis would not have gone down much differently.
With a lot of shade being thrown towards Ngannouafter Jon’s victory, he could be tempted to make his return. However, with a fight against Derek Chisora currently in the works, it will be long before Francis thinks about making his Octagon return. Who do you think wins in a fight between Jones and Ngannou? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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