Ngannou says Jon Jones clash will “probably never happen” due to his new UFC contract

Francis Ngannou was previously rumored to be facing Jon Jones in his heavyweight debut. However, Ngannou’s exit from the UFC put the kibosh on this monster event.

Recently, Ngannou said that although he had wanted to go up against Jones, he doesn’t think it will ever happen again.

The former heavyweight champion reacted to Jones finish in a video and revealed:

“That was quite a great performance from Jon. Not very surprising because I knew that if I could out-wrestle Ciryl, Jon would be another story. He would have a hard night if Jon could lay hands on him.”

Francis Ngannou then said that a possible clash with Jon Jones is unlikely to ever materialize:

Jones signed a new 8 bout long deal with the UFC shortly after Ngannou’s free agency was announced. He was initially supportive of Ngannou but then turned a corner once he heard Ngannou dispute UFC’s right to use the word ‘undisputed’ relating to the heavyweight title.

 

Ngannou became a free agent in December of 2022 and ceased negotiating with the UFC more than a month ago. He’s the biggest star to ever leave the UFC at his peak. He’s currently targeting boxing events against either Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder with Wilder being at the forefront thanks to Fury being tied up in Usyk negotiations. UFC and Ngannou are on bad terms, so much so that Ngannou didn’t even think about cornering friend Kamaru Usman in his rematch against Leon Edwards.

 

Additionally, UFC President Dana White said that Ngannou would not return to the UFC. He stated:

“We negotiated with him for years. It’s over. That’s over. He’ll never be in the UFC again.”