Of all of the dream fights in mixed martial arts which have yet to occur, Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones is near the highest of everybody’s lists.
The 2 former UFC Heavyweight Champions are currently exploring other options away from the UFC, with Ngannou having had boxing matches with Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, a stint within the PFL, and being booked on Jake Paul’s MVP MMA card on May 16. Nonetheless, in a recent interview with “ESPN MMA,” Ngannou revealed that Jones is the one man he desires to face before he eventually hangs up his gloves for good. “Jon Jones is the fight I actually need to have before my retirement. But apart from that, it might be anybody. I do not care. So long as it is a fight. I’m not saying it is a fight that might define my profession or something, but when I had to select, ‘Okay let’s do that one and go home,’ then it could be Jon Jones.”
The 2 men have come into contact with one another through the years but nothing has ever materialized by way of having them fight each other. Nonetheless, Ngannou revealed that the one time the Jones fight was proposed to him was when he felt prefer it was used as bait to try and convey him back to the UFC. “It was never really on the table, so I do not have to be upset. The one time that he looks as if a possibility was when he was used as bait, something to bait me.”
Because of the fight never really being presented officially to him, Ngannou is not too upset that it hasn’t happened yet, but would like to face “Jonny Bones” in some unspecified time in the future in the long run.
Francis Ngannou Just Wants Contracts To Be Fair
The fundamental reason why Francis Ngannou, and Jon Jones for that matter, aren’t within the UFC without delay is straightforward, money. Each men wanted extra money to fight, with Jones famously saying he wanted as much as Deontay Wilder to fight Ngannou, while Ngannou also wanted medical insurance and extra money for his opponents to assist boost fighter pay across the board.
Whether or not Ngannou gets back on the identical page as Dana White stays to be seen, but when he was asked if he can be willing to propose to the UFC that he desires to fight Jones moderately than the opposite way around, Ngannou explained that it could simply be right down to the contract and whether it really works for all parties.
“I actually have no problem with contracts. I actually have an issue with the best way the contract is getting used. I still sign a contract, even when it is not fighting. I’m a businessman, so I understand the concept of contract, which is an agreement between to folks that should assure they deliver something. Now, if we each deliver whatever is agreed on within the contract, I see no reason for us [not] to maintain doing business. Actually, if you sign a very good contract, you ought to get your partner glad, to perhaps re-sign. Like, ‘Okay, this has been such a very good partnership. Why not re-sign? Why not re-do this? We’re winning together, why not proceed?’ So I actually do not have an issue with a contract itself. Once I sign a contract, I be sure that I deliver. I honor my a part of the contract… Bring me the contract, I have a look at it. If it’s right, I sign. It must be right and fair, that is all that I’m saying.”
Please credit “ESPN MMA” when using quotes from this text, and provides a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.