JON JONES’ eagerly-anticipated heavyweight showdown with Francis Ngannou is “50-50” for its proposed March date.
The mouthwatering clash between the former light-heavyweight champ and The Baddest Man on the Planet is currently in the works for UFC 285 on March 4.
SunSport, however, recently revealed that negotiations over the fight were “slow” – with Ngannou’s lack of a new deal with the UFC being at the forefront of the delay.
Ngannou has seemingly recovered from the knee injury that kept him on the sidelines for the majority of 2022, but head coach Eric Nicksick believes the current proposed date is hanging in the balance.
He told MMA Fighting: “I think it’s 50-50, to be honest with you, when you’re talking business and timeline.
“I’m confident from what I saw from Francis a couple of weeks ago that if we had to be ready for March, I think we can get him ready.
“But I think it is cutting it a little bit short because he had to go back home and renew his visa.
“And then obviously they still haven’t announced anything yet with his contract and where they’re at, so 50-50 for me.
Nicksick, like the majority of MMA fans around the world, is hoping both parties reach a suitable agreement as soon as possible.
He said: “I’m hoping for this thing, fingers crossed that we can get this deal done.”
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Although time is seemingly running out for Ngannou to headline the third pay-per-view card of the year, Nicksick is confident The Predator could get fighting fit for Jones should the March date come to fruition
He said: “If it’s not March, maybe it’s April or May, or something like that.
“I do know that they’re shooting for March and that Jon Jones is the opponent.
“Everything else is out of my hands, but if they tell me, ‘Hey, we’re fighting March 4,’ we’ll have our guy ready, that’s for sure.”
Jones, 35, hasn’t set foot inside the octagon in nearly THREE YEARS due to the pandemic and a public pay row with the UFC brass.
The former pound-for-pound king’s last fight was a controversial victory over Dominick Reyes, which proved to be his final out at light-heavyweight.
Bones has used his time on the sidelines to undergo a dramatic body transformation in preparation for his long-awaited move up to heavyweight.
And the former long-reigning king of the light heavyweights plans to become a two-division champion in emphatic style.
He tweeted: “My goal, my dream is to have my first heavyweight title fight look like my first light heavyweight title fight.
“Pure domination.”
