The UFC and its president Dana White are known to make the fights the fans want. Over the course of two decades, the promotion has put together some of the most massive fights many could have only dreamed of. However, history has also shown that certain fights are just never meant to be, no matter the efforts. Such seems to be the case of Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou.
As previously mentioned, it wouldn’t be the first of a series of bouts that have remained nothing but fantasy matchups in fans’ minds. Another fight of such magnitude that shines is Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, the case of ‘Bones’ vs. ‘The Predator‘ seems to be a lot more complicated than it appears to be.
Both fighters, at the moment, are signed to two different promotions. Jones, who made his debut in the UFC in 2008 has remained under the banner ever since. Ngannou, on the other hand, joined hands with PFL followed by sour contract disputes with the UFC earlier this year. Despite the current scenario, fans have always wondered how a matchup between the two would turn out to be.
Pat McAfee asks Dana White how a Francis Ngannou/Jon Jones fight would work between the PFL and the UFC:
It wouldn’t work. Francis was here. Jon Jones wanted that fight the whole time. We tried to make the fight with Francis…pic.twitter.com/s48oJ0ikmK
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) June 23, 2023
Recently, Dana White appeared on The Pat McAfee Show to discuss Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg and a lot more. At one point, the show’s host asked White if he’d accept PFL’s offer to join hands for a fight between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou. And as per Dana’s answer, it’s a bit too late to discuss the fantasy matchup now.
“It wouldn’t work. Francis was here,” Dana said. “Jon Jones wanted that fight the whole time. We tried to make the fight with Francis, (it didn’t work out), yeah.”
Needless to say, the above claims have started making rounds in the MMA world. So much so, that the Cameroonian-French has now fired back at Dana’s statements.
Francis Ngannou responds to Dana White’s claims
Francis Ngannou signed with PFL last month. As part of the deal, he will have “equity and leadership” roles within the company. Additionally, the 36-year-old will also have a seat on the athlete advisory board and the role of PFL Africa chairman. Most notably, the agreement allows Francis to seek out his own boxing matches.
Prior to signing with PFL, Ngannou was in talks of fighting Jon Jones at the time. Unfortunately for fight fans, the bout never materialized and the promotion eventually cut ties with ‘The Predator.’
We told you that tonight could get interesting 👀
The faceoff that you all were waiting for #PFLRegularSeason pic.twitter.com/lLonBECFUY
— PFL (@PFLMMA) June 17, 2023
‘Bones’ later captured the vacant heavyweight belt this past March at UFC 285 with a quick submission of Ciryl Gane. Both Jon and Francis are on different paths at present. However, that hasn’t stopped the debate as to who is truly “the baddest man on the planet.” That topic was a point of conversation last weekend when the duo came face-to-face at PFL’s recent event in Atlanta.
No Pat, Jonny was on vacation for 3 years while I sat there waiting 🙄 https://t.co/OuS3SxMOGp
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) June 23, 2023
Dana’s aforementioned comments obviously struck a nerve with the former UFC fighter. Ngannou took to Twitter to quote tweet the video while sharing his sentiments. Per his comment, he seems to be disagreeing with White’s claims. Francis said, “No Pat, Jonny was on vacation for 3 years while I sat there waiting 🙄”
Going by his response, Ngannou appears to claim that Jones never accepted the bout in the first place. Do you believe such was the scenario? Let us know in the comments down below.
