Talk of Francis Ngannou returning to the UFC has returned to the surface, as Jon Jones’ next step continues to be uncertain.
Ngannou left the UFC as heavyweight champion in early 2023 following a lengthy contractual dispute. ‘The Predator’ ultimately found himself under the PFL banner, where he’s had the freedom to pursue his boxing ambitions in two high-profile bouts against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
In terms of MMA, the Cameroonian has competed just once since exiting the UFC. Ngannou dominated Renan Ferreira in his PFL debut, but it remains unclear when he’ll return to the cage.
The current topic of discussion is whether that return could come under the UFC banner. After coach Eric Nicksick expressed a desire to see his man back in the Octagon, Jones reignited talk of fighting Ngannou on social media.
And although that remains a far-off prospect, the UFC has been told one thing that could facilitate an Ngannou comeback.
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Ex-Bellator analyst tells UFC that PFL would have to entertain a trade for Francis Ngannou
The UFC famously acquired Ben Askren in a trade from ONE Championship that saw legendary flyweight Demetrious Johnson go the other way to the Asian organization.
A trade of that kind hasn’t been seen since, but former fighter and Bellator analyst Josh Thomson sees an opportunity for that to change with Ngannou involved.
During a recent episode of his Weighing In podcast, ‘The Punk’ claimed that PFL can no longer afford to have the inactive Cameroonian heavyweight under contract.
With that in mind, he thinks the promotion could be swayed to let Ngannou go should the UFC offer up a few of its own fighters in exchange.
“The only way it wouldn’t be a waste of time is like if there’s a trade,” Thomson said.
“PFL can’t afford Francis anymore… Like, who are we gonna have you fight? (Vadim) Nemkov, that’s the only guy. There’s nobody else for you to fight. So move on, go back and fight Jon.
“The UFC needs it. The PFL could use a couple other fighters to add to their tournaments,” Thomson added. “Make the trade, whatever it is.
“With Francis, you could definitely send him off. Why am I (PFL) gonna pay him $4 million, or whatever it is, plus pay his opponent $2 million? … You guys are not getting the views right now! You’re just hemorrhaging money.”
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Dana White stays firm on Tom Aspinall or no one stance for Jon Jones’ UFC return
For now, it appears that the UFC’s attention remains on convincing Jones to unify the heavyweight title against interim champion Tom Aspinall.
During his press conference after UFC 316, Dana White addressed talk of Ngannou returning and was dismissive of ‘The Predator’ making an Octagon comeback.
“It’s Aspinall’s fight,” he replied when asked if there was anything either Ngannou or PFL could do to make the Jones fight happen. “I mean, we’ve been talking to this kid about it forever and it’s his fight.
“Listen, you can’t make people fight, if Jon doesn’t want to fight, you can’t make him fight. We can try to make him fight, we can throw things at him that inspire him to want to fight, but we’ll figure it out,” White added.
“I don’t have Ngannou under contract and Aspinall is the guy.”
The PFL, meanwhile, has already laid its cards on the table, with founder Donn Davis once again pitching a cross-promotion event headlined by the Ngannou vs. Jones superfight.