If you were hoping to see UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones take on PFL SuperFights Champion Francis Ngannou in a dream fight, Dana White dealt a potential death blow to the concept.
In his latest anti-PFL and Ngannou rant, White made it plain he doesn’t like the former UFC heavyweight champion and believes the feeling is mutual.
“No. I didn’t like Francis as a person,” White said at the UFC 308 post-event presser when a reporter asked about him wanting to cut Ngannou after losing to Derrick Lewis in July 2018. “Wasn’t a guy I wanted to do business with. My boys were telling me he’s misunderstood, and I told them that when somebody shows you who they are, believe them. It wasn’t about him becoming the heavyweight champion of the world. Francis isn’t a good guy. He plays the good guy, ‘duh, duh, I don’t understand the language’ so he seems like he’s a nice guy, but he’s not. He’s just not a guy that I wanted to be in business with, period, end of story.”
The reporter continued and asked about the possibility of an Ngannou vs. Jones fight.
“We’ll never be in business together,” White replied before the reporter finished the question. “I mean you can tell; We don’t like each other.”
Here is a look at the entire post-event press conference. The part about Ngannou starts at the 9:50 mark.
It’s a little scary how fragile a fighter’s future in the UFC can be if they aren’t liked by White or the powers that be in the UFC.
Ngannou hit a tough patch that saw him defeated by Stipe Miocic, who was champion at the time, and then by Lewis in a horrendous fight. At no point did Ngannou look like a guy who should be cut.
If Tony Ferguson is still on the roster with seven consecutive losses and terribly diminished skills, there is no logical case to be made for Ngannou being cut. Simply not liking the guy doesn’t seem fair. In any case, the chances of Jones vs. Ngannou–at least anytime soon–seem dead. Jones, 37, has already teased retirement.
A fight and payday linked to the 38-year-old Ngannou would likely motivate Jones. However, it is unclear how many fights Jones has on his current deal with the UFC. He’s at the age when he could choose to take a massive payday from the PFL–which would likely have some financial kick-in from their Saudi backing to facilitate the fight.
It’s the one fight the PFL would be willing to make that the UFC wouldn’t. However, it won’t have the same impact if Jones cannot get free of the UFC in time for the battle to matter to fans.
This is combat sports, so we can never say never, but it seems safe to say that Jones vs. Ngannou won’t happen at the height of its significance.
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