Francis Ngannou is interested in a superfight with Jon Jones.
There’s the possibility of a heavyweight trilogy bout between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier, but ‘Bones’ seems more interested in moving up to heavyweight to challenge himself against Cameroonian knockout artist Francis Ngannou.
“That’s a scary dude,” Jones said of Ngannou in a recent interview with TMZ Sports (h/t Jesse Holland of MMA Mania). “But, that’s why I’m in it, for it to be hard. I’m aware that the greater the challenge, that’s what makes it great. The hard is what makes it great. There’s a lot of fights at the heavyweight division that are always gonna be extremely appealing. Cain Velasquez, Francis Ngannou…”
Jones is currently scheduled to defend his light heavyweight title against Thiago Santos at UFC 239, while Ngannou, 32, will take on former heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos at UFC on ESPN 3. And, if both men win their respective bouts, perhaps Ultimate Fighting Championship would be interested in booking a Jones vs. Ngannou superfight.
For his part, Ngannou is definitely interested in the matchup and believes it would be a great fight for the fans.
“Personally, I mean, it would be a good fight, first of all for the fans, for me, yes,” Ngannou told TMZ Sports. “Even though Jon Jones is a light heavyweight, this guy has made his legacy, dominating the whole division. He’s a big dude. I met him once, we almost, we are the same height, we are almost the same thing. I might just have a few pounds on him. That would be a legit fight. I’m here for the challenge, but I just want to take things one at a time. I don’t want to mix them up. But yes, I would definitely want that fight.”
Ngannou will first have to get past dos Santos, who he meets in the UFC on ESPN 3 main event this Saturday, June 29, at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
UFC 239: Jones vs. Santos takes place the following week, July 6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.