It’s not every day that we get to see the best of the combat sports world collide against each other. Throughout the history of the UFC, we have seen Daniel Cormier fight Anderson Silva, George St Pierre fight Michael Bisping, and whatnot. Francis Ngannou vs Jon Jones was also expected to be such a fight but we will probably never get to see that matchup.
THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME IS NOW THE HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMP đ
JON JONES SUBMITS CIRYL GANE!! #UFC285 pic.twitter.com/JOiAnweVJ5
— UFC (@ufc) March 5, 2023
Why did Francis Ngannou pull out from the Jon Jones fight?
Francis had his first title defense against former training partner Ciryl Gane. The fight was seemingly going in the French fighter’s favor until Ngannou Pulled out his wrestling skills and rag-dolled his opponent. After this encounter, Ngannou took a long break to recover from his injury.
During this time, the Cameroonian was secretly negotiating contract terms with the UFC. He got paid comparatively poorly for his last fight and naturally was not satisfied with the state of things. Meanwhile, boxing legend Tyson Fury was calling him out Ngannou for a once-in-a-lifetime showdown inside the ring.
Some of Francis’s demands from the UFC included insurance facilities, custom sponsors, better payday, and more free agency. The UFC maintains some strict rules regarding their contracts and was not about to let one fighter mess everything up. This is why no final agreement was reached and ‘The Predator’ went his separate way.
Why we may never see Francis Ngannou vs Jon Jones?
The former heavyweight champion reacted to Jones’s win saying, âNot very surprising because I knew that if I could outwrestle Ciryl, Jones would be another story. Youâll have a hot knife if Jones could lay his hands on himâ
He discussed the possibility of a future fight against Jones, âFun fight. The fight that I would have liked to have, but unfortunately weâre not there. That fight didnât happen and probably will never happen now that heâs on a very long contract with the UFC, so thatâs not happening anymore.â
Good job Jonny Boy đ
Sincerely,
The heavyweight king— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) March 5, 2023
‘Bones’ did not waste much time calling out Stipe Miocic for his first title defense. With contenders like Tom Aspinall, Curtis ‘Razor’ Blaydes, and Sergei Pavlovich on the line, the former 205 lber does not seem to have any shortage of challengers. On the other hand, Dana White pretty much shut down Ngannou’s chances of ever coming back.
The UFC has previously failed to negotiate with fighters like Fedor Emelianenko. Over the years, the discontent toward the Russian has come to the surface again and again. Francis too might suffer from the same fate.
Who would you like to see Ngannou fight next?
