Think you need to see Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou? Think again !
UFC President Dana White isn’t interested in staging this fight because the outcome is a foregone conclusion for him. Ngannou is one of the few major UFC fighters to have walked away from the promotion in years, and White has decided not to sell his former heavyweight champion’s chances against Jones.
“I’m not interested,” White said when asked about Jones vs. Ngannou in a new interview with TMZ. “I tried to make this fight for two years. He didn’t want the fight. You know what I mean? He didn’t want the fight. And he left here without even having another deal in place. And I know how the boxing world is. It’s crazy. But, Francis didn’t want to do it.
In the meantime, that’s not how Ngannou sees it.
‘The Predator’ blames Jones’ three-year absence on the fact that the fight never happened, putting the blame on the UFC for not wanting to settle a deal with ‘Bones’. Still, White argues the fight wouldn’t have been competitive anyway.
Jones got through Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, winning with a first-round guillotine choke just two minutes into their fight (see highlights). White believes the same thing would have happened to Ngannou.
“I tried to make this fight for two years,” White said. “And let me tell you what: I think a lot of other people feel that way, I think that’s exactly the way [UFC 285] would have left if [Ngannou] was there too. He and Ciryl had a five round war. If Ciryl doesn’t go for that submission, Ciryl probably wins that fight at the end of the fifth round there.
So don’t expect the UFC to do anything crazy like offer Ngannou a one-fight deal to face Jones. Instead, White is focusing on Jon Jones against Stipe Miocic.
“What makes this so great is you have the greatest mixed martial artist of all time facing off against the greatest heavyweight champion of all time,” White said. “So it literally doesn’t get any better than that. This is the kind of fights you dream of doing.
White didn’t rule out the possibility that Jones vs. Miocic would drop out at UFC 290 during “International Fight Week” in July, but he suggested the date might be too close for both fighters. Whenever the fight happens, it could very well be the last fight for Jones as well.
“I wouldn’t be shocked either if [Jon] Stipe fights then retires, done with fighting,” White said.
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