DANA WHITE has seemingly opened the door to a crossover fight between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou.
MMA fans were licking their lips at the prospect of former pound-for-pound king Jones moving up to heavyweight to take on Ngannou after he vacated the 205lbs title in August 2020.
But the fight seemed dead in the water after Ngannou failed to agree a new deal with the UFC and subsequently joined the Professional Fighters League last May.
Optimistic fight fans, however, have held on to the prospect of the bout one day coming to fruition as both promotions have the same broadcast partner – ESPN.
The once slim hopes of the pair ever sharing the octagon, however, have since grown as both promotions are now working with Saudi bigwig Turki Alalashikh.
Alalshikh has revolutionised boxing over the last six months as part of the Saudi government’s Riyadh Season, which will be the UFC’s first-ever title sponsor of a PPV show.
And White admits he’ll hear out any cross-promotion ideas Alalshikh has – including one to make Jones vs Ngannou..
He said: “I respect what he has done with boxing. This is the only guy that could pull this off and make these big fights.
“And the fights are good, you don’t have guys coming in and avoiding fights so they can get to the next payday.
“What this guy has done in a short amount of time is pretty incredible, so we’re obviously talking about lots of different options with this guy.
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“I respect him. I like him, so we will see what the future holds.”
White’s revealing of his apparent willingness to cross-promote a Jones vs Ngannou fight – the prospect of which he poo-pooed last November – comes a matter of weeks after he claimed the promotion’s former heavyweight champion didn’t want to face his successor.
During an appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast, White said: “He [Jones] goes out for three years, comes back, and beats Ciryl Gane.
“Like that! Easily! And in my opinion, he does the same thing to Francis.
“A 100%. Does the same thing to Francis.”
He continued: “Francis didn’t wanna fight Jon Jones. There is nothing for him to prove now.
“He already moved up to heavyweight and walked through- Francis Ngannou barely made it through Ciryl Gane.
“If Ciryl Gane doesn’t go for that submission, Ciryl Gane wins that fight. Jon Jones walked through him.”
Jones, 36, hasn’t set foot inside the octagon since winning the heavyweight title last March but is set to fight former champion Stipe Miocic in November.
Ngannou, meanwhile, hasn’t fought since his brutal second-round knockout loss to Anthony Joshua in March.
