Jon Jones has been very active on Twitter recently, specifically mentioning his interest in a long-awaited fight against former UFC champion and current PFL fighter, Francis Ngannou.
Francis Ngannou`s head coach, Eric Nicksick, recently hinted that Ngannou is “100 percent” open to potentially returning to the UFC in the future. Ngannou departed the UFC and vacated his belt due to feeling undervalued and mistreated as the reigning heavyweight champion. He subsequently signed with the PFL, taking on roles as both a fighter and an ambassador for PFL Africa. Since then, Jones claimed the UFC heavyweight title, while Ngannou has earned millions through boxing matches and PFL appearances.
On Friday, Jones tweeted that a fight with Ngannou would be much more motivating for him than facing interim champion Tom Aspinall. Less than 24 hours later, Ngannou issued his reply.
Ngannou`s response on Twitter was, “You take care of the UFC, I’ll take care of the PFL, and we’ll finally find out who’s the KING OF THE HEAVYWEIGHT.”
Both Jones and Ngannou repeatedly called for this matchup to happen after Jones moved up from light heavyweight to the heavyweight division. However, the bout never materialized. According to UFC CEO Dana White, the fight didn`t happen because Jones demanded “Deontay Wilder money.”
Since then, White has stated multiple times that he has no interest in working with Ngannou again. In contrast, PFL founder Donn Davis has expressed strong interest in making the fight between Jones and Ngannou a reality through a potential co-promotion with the UFC.
Jones most recently defended his title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November. Ngannou`s PFL debut took place a month prior, where he secured a first-round TKO victory over Renan Ferreira.
