Francis Ngannou has detailed exactly what he and Jon Jones need to do in order to finally make their long-awaited heavyweight grudge fight happen.
Legendary two-weight world champion Jones fired out an offer to Ngannou last night after coach Eric Nicksick teased a potential return to the UFC. The former champion is currently signed to PFL, where he balances fighting with an executive and ambassadorial role.
However, PFL have been open to allowing Ngannou to fight elsewhere in the past; previously allowing him to box against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua without even a co-promoting label. Now, they would be able to be involved in a historic heavyweight showdown.
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Francis Ngannou accepts Jon Jones’ challenge for super-fight
Francis Ngannou is not a regular user of X, but after a callout from Jon Jones, he broke his social media silence to issue a quick response. He essentially accepted the call, outlining that each of them would need to work around their own promotional situations.
Jones had initially written on X: “I’m hearing Francis Ngannou is still interested… now we’re talking. That’s a real super fight. A clash of champions, not just hype. He held the UFC belt, I’ve defended mine for over a decade.
“Two kings from different roads. Not just one legend facing a mouth that’s hot right now, but two real legacies colliding. That’s the kind of fight that actually adds something special to my story. At least from my point of view.”
“You take care of the UFC, I’ll take care of the PFL,” Ngannou replied, seemingly alluding to both of them needing to get their respective promotions on board with the idea. “And we’ll finally find out who’s the KING OF THE HEAVYWEIGHT.”
While PFL bosses such as Donn Davis and Peter Murray have never been shy in making their eagerness for the fight known, Dana White is perhaps a trickier proposition. He has vowed never to work with Ngannou again after a bitter breakup saw him leave the UFC with the belt in 2023.
Jon Jones enraged fans by dismissing Tom Aspinall for Francis Ngannou callout
The elephant in the room around such a fight is, of course, interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. The Brit has been pushing for an undisputed clash with Jones for years, but seems farther than ever from making it happen.
Now, it seems he could be fully pushed from the title picture in favor of Ngannou, who technically never lost the undisputed belt. In fact, with so much dispute over who is the true champion between Jones and Aspinall, it is often argued that Ngannou’s status as lineal champion is the dominant one.
Indeed, the Cameroonian marketed himself as such for both of his boxing outings, as well as his sole PFL bout last October. He has become a regular competitor in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where big money deals have brought together boxing promoters who had vowed to never even share a room.
However, getting Dana White to reunite with Ngannou, particularly given the UFC CEO’s supposed feud with Saudi supremo Turki Alalshikh, seems unlikely at this juncture.
Jones was relentlessly trolled by fans for ‘ducking Aspinall’, before writing on X: “You clowns thinking, Francis would be that much easier because of the ground game. Tom has no ground game either. In English black belt is like getting a participation ribbon.”