Francis Ngannou expressed his desire for a fight against Jon Jones before retirement, noting that the matchup was never realistically on the table during their UFC tenures.
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Francis Ngannou will return to MMA on May 16. | PFL MMA
One of the bigger “what if” fights in recent MMA history was a potential heavyweight booking between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones.
While both men were once under the UFCbanner, the bout never came to fruition, as the promotion had difficulties negotiating with both men at various times during their respective tenures. According to Ngannou, Jones was never a realistic possibility while he was in the UFC.
“It was never really on the table, so I don’t have to be disappointed. The only time that he seems like a possibility was when he was used as bait, something to bait me,” Ngannou told ESPN.
Ngannou eventually left the UFC, vacating the heavyweight title in the process. He then signed with Professional Fighters League, which allowed him to compete in lucrative boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua prior to his debut. In his lone PFL appearance, “The Predator” knocked out Renan Ferreira in October 2024. Ngannou was released from his contract earlier this year, and he will make his long awaited MMA return against Philipe Lins at Most Valuable Promotions "Rousey vs. Carano" on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
Francis Ngannou wants to fight Jon Jones before his retirement.
The fight never happened due to difficulties in negotiations between the UFC and both fighters.
Francis Ngannou will return to MMA on May 16.
Ngannou stated that a fight with Jones was never a realistic possibility while he was in the UFC.
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“Of course, it was frustrating,” Ngannou said of the layoff. “It wasn't my choice, but at the end of the day, it's about what you can do, what you have to do … As much as I love fighting, my life is not only fighting. I have a life and I'm trying to make it work in parallel with my fighting career.”
With his 40th birthday on the horizon, Ngannou doesn’t lack for motivation as he prepares for Lins.
“I'm still excited about doing it,” he said. “I get excited when I say, OK I'm going to a camp. I call the guys, OK boys, we go. It's cool. You have that experience … It’s your routine. It's your life. It's part of you.
“Then something that people don't always talk about is also financial. It's my job.I have to bring money. I have to bring money [to] the house.”
MVP and Netflix have made waves by partnering for their first MMA card, enlisting big names like Ngannou, Ronda Rousey, Gina Carano, Mike Perry and Nate Diaz, among others. Those involved have expressed hope that this will be more than a one-off event, and Ngannou would also like to see the partnership have some staying power — because more options are also better for the fighters.
“I hope that they stay around for long term and also the way that they are doing it. It would also be great to see another platform, to see something that can provide opportunity to other fighters,” Ngannou said. “Because I think also one of the reasons that some fighters get locked in a contract is because they are afraid of the outside. They are afraid of the unknown. They don't know what is out there. They are not seeing any possibility. So it freaks them out. They'd rather get something that they are safe. Even if it's not enough, then at least they're like, ‘OK, this is better than nothing.’”
With that in mind, Ngannou acknowledges that “freedom” is his theme heading into the matchup with Lins.
“As far as I'm concerned, I'm free of every contract and I'm still out here still doing it,” he said. “This is a proof of the faith that I was talking earlier of something could happen at any given moment if you can just wait… I stay consistent and then consistent in my faith, in my hope, and then I stay free. I keep that freedom. If I wasn't free, I wouldn't have had this opportunity.”
While Ngannou didn’t think Jones was a realistic fight for him in the UFC, facing “Bones” would still be a bucket-list item for the former heavyweight champion. With Jones flirting with retirement while still under UFC contract, it still seems more like a pipe dream than a concrete possibility.
“Jon Jones is the fight that I really want to have before my retirement,” Ngannou said. “But other than that, it could be anybody, I don’t care. As long as it’s a fight. I’m not saying it’s a fight that would define my career or something, but if I had to pick, OK let’s do this one and go home, then it would be Jon Jones.”