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Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou were both in the same building during PFL’s most recent event. After months of increased smack talk, and a lot of insults coming from Jones after Ngannou left the UFC, they finally ran into each other in person.
Jones and Ngannou faced off cageside and had a somewhat cordial conversation about the super fight that never materialized.
Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou meet face to face
Here’s how that conversation went:
Jones started by squeezing Ngannou’s muscles and sizing him up. Ngannou responded by tapping on Jones’ tummy.
Ngannou: Johnny boy! Respect.
Jones: Respect, man.
Ngannou: [Inaudible] put that fight to happen. We over here, you over there.
Jones: You know you don’t want no smoke.
Ngannou: Huh?
Jones: You know you don’t want no smoke.
Ngannou: You know I want all the smoke. You know I want all the smoke.
Jones: With the one true king.
Ngannou: Huh?
Jones: With the one true king.
Ngannou: [Inaudible] but I want that smoke. You know that. [Inaudible]
Jones: I’ve always been king.
Ngannou: Huh?
Jones: I’ve always been king, since the day I started this. And I’m gonna die a king.
Ngannou: [Inaudible]
*Shakes hands*
Jones: We’ll see. We could’ve saw, but you left.
Ngannou: Oh no. You sat back for three years.
Jones: I had to get to the size to kick your ass.
Ngannou: Huh?
Jones: I had to get to a good enough size to kick your ass.
Ngannou: You had to get to a good enough size to kick my ass?
Jones: Yes.
Ngannou: That’s a good three years.
Jones: Yes.
Ngannou: I will always be down for a fight. I’ll be down to fight you. But I want you. I want to kick your ass.
Jones: If you’re going to kick my ass, first you’re going to have to learn how to wrestle, learn jiujitsu. It’s going to take you more than a year.
Ngannou: *Shakes head* I’ve been waiting for you for more than a year.
Jon Jones was inactive for three years
Jon Jones, who now holds the UFC title that Francis Ngannou vacated, was inactive for three years and absent during the Cameroonian’s reign as champion. As Ngannou pointed out, Jones long teased a move to heavyweight, but it only happened once he had left the promotion.
Jones kept calling Ngannou a coward for supposedly ducking him now, but interestingly enough, he seemingly admitted during their face off that he didn’t want to take the fight for those three years.
Either way, the UFC failed to make the fight and come to terms with their heavyweight champion at the time, and Jones vs Ngannou will likely go down as one of the biggest “what ifs” in MMA history.
For more on the history and beef between Jones and Ngannou, the video below provides an in-depth account of things.
What’s next for Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou?
Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou will probably never fight, now that they’re in different promotions. Ngannou currently has a lucrative MMA deal with PFL, and he is also trying to secure a big money boxing fight at the same time.
Jones currently holds the UFC heavyweight title after beating Ciryl Gane last March, but still has no title defense lined up. He previously stated that he has no interest in facing surging heavyweight contender Sergei Pavlovich, and instead wants to fight 40-year-old former champion Stipe Miocic.
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