With the UFC’s heavyweight division currently stalled, Francis Ngannou has re-entered the frame.
The former champion parted ways with the promotion in January of 2023 but his coach recently suggested that Ngannou could make a return.
This quickly attracted the attention of Jon Jones who showed a lot of interest in fighting Ngannou, referring to the matchup as a ‘true super-fight’.
Jones received some criticism from the fans for this take, with some suggesting that he’s pushing this idea to avoid fighting Tom Aspinall.
After his comments added a new narrative to the current situation at the top of the heavyweight division, Ngannou’s coach made sure to outline exactly what he meant.
Eric Nicksick clarifies his comments on Francis Ngannou potentially returning to the UFC following Jon Jones’ comments
In an interview with Home of Fight, Eric Nicksick stated that in his opinion, enough time has passed since Francis Ngannou departed the UFC on bad terms that the two parties could come back together.
The Xtreme Couture head coach said that he believes Ngannou would be open to this idea because for him, it has always been about business rather than ego.
Nicksick also made sure to point out that Tom Aspinall, who he also has a good relationship with, is completely deserving of the opportunity to be UFC champion, claiming that bringing the former titleholder in doesn’t fix the current holdup.
“I’m not saying that Francis is the answer but it at least adds some more value to your heavyweight division if you go out and get a guy like him and bring him back.”
In a recent post on social media, Nicksick stressed exactly what he meant by his comments so that nothing was taken out of context.
He referenced all three of the major names in the heavyweight division, making it clear that he didn’t say anything negative about Jones or Aspinall.
Nicksick simply believes that adding Ngannou back into the fold would make the division even more exciting, which is hard to argue with.
Eric Nicksick draws comparisons between Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall and the Francis Ngannou fight that didn’t happen
While Eric Nicksick made it clear that he has a lot of respect for Jon Jones, he did highlight a comparison between the heavyweight champion’s drawn-out sagas with both Tom Aspinall and Francis Ngannou.
Jones vs Ngannou remains one of the biggest UFC fights that got away from the fans despite the fact that both men were signed to the promotion at the same time.
Nicksick said that there are certainly some parallels between the way that the Jones and Aspinall situation has played out and the way that the Jones and Ngannou negotiations went, which he believes has only supported the comments that they made about the potential super fight at the time.
“We were ready to fight anyone that came to the table, but the negotiations weren’t stalled on our end. So, I think that now over time, the truth comes to light and we don’t really have to say much about it. You’re seeing what’s going on now.”