According to former undisputed UFC middleweight champion and promotional Hall of Fame inductee, Michael Bisping, the promotion would likely weigh up the possibly of a future resigning of former champion, Francis Ngannou – should current gold holder, Jon Jones beat Stipe Miocic in an expected title fight this year.
Jones, the current undisputed heavyweight champion under the banner of the UFC, is expected to make his return to the Octagon later this year in a championship title defense against former two-time division best, Miocic at Madison Square Garden.
Expected to announce his retirement from the sport in the coming future, Jones claimed that a potential fight with former heavyweight champion, Ngannou would likely see him postpone his retirement from mixed martial arts competition, however.
As for Ngannou, the Batié knockout artist has been sidelined since January 2020, seeing his UFC exit granted in January of this year following the completion of his contractual obligations with the organization last December.
Francis Ngannou has been linked with a move to the PLF later this year
And yet to pen terms with a promotion following his Octagon departure, UFC leader, Dana White confirmed that the promotion would never entertain a return for Ngannou, however, former middleweight champion, Bisping scoffs at that narrative.
“Francis Ngannou – Dana (White) said he will never fight for the UFC ever again, and I understand that of course,” Michael Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “But if Stipe (Miocic) and Jon Jones were to fight, and it’s a big if, if Jon Jones was to win that fight because it ain’t no walk in the park… Stipe Miocic can do it all, so that would be a huge test for Jon Jones and a massive fight…”
“Let’s just imagine that he [Jones] beats him [Miocic] and he says, ‘That’s it. I’m done. I’m done, unless Francis Ngannou comes back’… I think in that situation, everyone would sit around the negotiation table,” Michael Bisping explained. (Transcribed by MMA News)