Francis Ngannou seems to have ruled out facing Jon Jones next if he gets by Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 this weekend.
‘Bones’ appears to be next in line for a shot at the heavyweight title after announcing his intention to jump up in weight to challenge the baddest men on the planet.
The former light-heavyweight king hasn’t fought for almost two years after defending his 205lb title against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247.
Since then, Jones has been bulking up while trying and failing to come to terms with the UFC on a new contract. It now seems that all of the waiting around has rubbed Ngannou the wrong way and he is now uninterested in facing Jones.
“No, I’m done with that fight,” Ngannou said when asked about facing Jones at the UFC 270 pre-fight press conference. “I’ve been waiting for that fight for so long. After Stipe [Miocic], it was supposed to be Jon Jones and that never happened. I don’t know why. So I moved on.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)
Francis Ngannou Is Not The Only Person To Cast Doubt On Jon Jones’ Heavyweight Future.
While everyone is assuming Jones will face whoever wins the UFC 270 main event, Dana White doubts that will actually be the case.
During a recent interview with ESPN, the UFC president made it clear that he is not confident that Jones will ever fight at heavyweight, he said.
“I think Jon’s going to watch this fight, and he’ll decide. Maybe he doesn’t fight at heavyweight. Maybe he goes back and tries to regain the light heavyweight championship. I honestly don’t know the answer to that question.”
The man himself is simply excited to sit back, watch and learn this weekend. Jones doesn’t have a pick for the UFC 270 main event but is keen to watch two men who he believes are future opponents even if the UFC boss is not convinced.
Do you think we’ll see Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones in 2022?