Francis Ngannou is over all the Jon Jones talk.
A matchup between Ngannou and Jones has been a dream for MMA fans for the past few years, with Ngannou becoming one of the most feared heavyweights in UFC history during his time with the promotion from 2015-2022 and Jones always having one eye on that division even as he ruled over the light heavyweight roster. Even after Ngannou jumped from UFC to PFL in 2023, the two have continued to answer questions about fighting one another, and it sounds like Ngannou has had enough.
Speaking to Seconds Out, Ngannou praised Jones for his win over Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, but dismissed talk of them ever crossing promotions and meeting in the cage.
“It’s been four years that I’ve been saying it, I’m confused that people keep asking me this question,” Ngannou said. “It’s been four years. That’s not my problem, I don’t care about it anymore. If it happens, yes, if it doesn’t, f*ck it.”
When Ngannou and Jones were both under UFC contract, the fighters were interested in a champion vs. champion fight, but it never materialized for various reasons. In 2021, UFC CEO Dana White and Jones disagreed over how much Jones should be paid for the matchup, with Jones fuming over White making it sound like he didn’t want to face Ngannou. White has since attempted to change the narrative, blaming Ngannou for the fight never happening.
Since Ngannou parted ways with the UFC, he’s competed in a pair of boxing matches against heavyweight stars Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, and made a successful return to MMA with a knockout of Renan Ferreira this past October. He’s currently not interested in facing Joshua again after the British slugger viciously knocked him out—alluding to issues surrounding the fight affecting his performance—but he still wants another shot at Fury after losing a controversial split decision to “The Gypsy King.”
“The rematch with Joshua, to be honest, I felt very off and not very comfortable in that fight,” Ngannou said. “It’s something that could happen, but what I do know for sure is that I want a rematch with Fury. Again, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but I didn’t like the Joshua fight. I think things wasn’t right, nothing wasn’t right, and if it’s going to be the same scenario, I’m not interested. Something unfair definitely happened.”
“I don’t have the full picture, but I have seen some [things] myself that wasn’t right,” Ngannou continued. “I was in the locker room for almost four hours, for example, which is not something that happens in a fight, so just from there. Not to [mention] the entire week.”
Should he get to trade punches with Fury again, Ngannou doesn’t expect to change his strategy much. All he knows is the result won’t be the same.
“Differently, I don’t know,” Ngannou said. “Just trying to do the same thing that I did, but better.”
