Francis Ngannou vs Jon Jones will go down as one of the biggest ‘what ifs’ in MMA history, but Dana White has claimed Ngannou didn’t want that fight and has offered his prediction of how it would’ve gone down.
Following his narrow win over Ciryl Gane back at UFC 270, Francis Ngannou decided to leave the UFC for more freedom, signing with the PFL in May last year.
After Ngannou’s exit from the promotion, the UFC put together a vacant heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and the aforementioned Gane.
Dana White claims Ngannou didn’t want the Jones fight
Since exiting the UFC, the public relationship between the former heavyweight champion and his previous boss, Dana White, has been frosty, to say the least.
In a recent interview on the Club Shay Shay podcast, the UFC CEO claimed that he isn’t regretful about how things turned out with himself and Ngannou, stating that he did ‘everything in our power’ to make the Jones fight.
“No (I’m not regretful) because we did everything in our power to try and make that Jon Jones fight and it is what it is,” White stated.
Fans have jabbed at Jones since the ordeal, claiming that he was scared of Ngannou, and that is the reason why he made his UFC return after the 37-year-old left the promotion.
“Not only is Jon Jones not afraid of Francis, Jon Jones is the badest fighter to ever live, in any combat sport. If you look, Jon Jones is undefeated in the UFC, he’s got one loss on his record, he lost to Steve Mazzagatti (referee),” the UFC boss added.
White did offer a fantasy prediction of how a fight between Jones and Ngannou would’ve gone, and of course, he backed his current UFC heavyweight champion.
“Then he goes out for three years, comes back, and beats Ciryl Gane (clicks fingers) like that, easily. In my opinion, he does the same thing to Francis, 100%, does the same thing to Francis. Francis didn’t want to fight Jon Jones,” Dana White stated.
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White states Ngannou ‘barely’ made it through Ciryl Gane
‘The Predator’s’ final UFC win over Ciryl Gane back in January 2022, was admittedly a close fight. ‘Bon Gamin’ began the fight well, utilizing his light-on-the-feet approach, outstriking Ngannou for the opening few rounds.
On two of the judges’ scorecards, the Frenchman was up 2-0 after the first two, resulting in a change of gameplan from the powerful puncher, Ngannou.
The 37-year-old came out in round three with a wrestling-heavy approach, landing two takedowns and beginning to control the fight on the ground. The following two rounds played out similarly, and ultimately, Ngannou narrowly defended his heavyweight title.
“Francis Ngannou barely made it through Ciryl Gane. If Ciryl Gane doesn’t go for that submission, Ciryl Gane wins that fight, Jon Jones walked through (Gane),” White finished.
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