The prospect of a Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou superfight remains a possibility, despite the UFC’s pushback.
That’s the view of Jones’ manager, Abe Kawa, who said that, despite Jones revealing the UFC had shut down the idea, the bout remains a possibility simply because fight fans will demand it.
Jones and Ngannou have been involved in a back-and-forth social media exchange that has seen the UFC’s light heavyweight champion make clear that he’d have no problem moving up to heavyweight to face the Cameroonian knockout artist.
But despite both men’s apparent willingness to throw down, the UFC seemingly hasn’t been as keen, with Jones stating on Twitter that “Before even discussing numbers, the UFC was unwilling to pay more for the Francis superfight/for me to move to heavyweight.”
However, despite the tone of finality in Jones’ tweets about the topic, Kawa told MMA Junkie Radio that the fight will remain on the table, and said there’s no reason why it can’t still come to fruition.
“Listen, it can always still happen,” Kawa said. “One thing we have is a tremendous amount of respect for (UFC president) Dana (White)and the guys up there (at the UFC). Whenever the fans really want something to happen, it happens. So that being said, it can always happen. That’s never a straight no, it’s not. It can absolutely happen.”
Jones’ tweets following his short conversation with the UFC showed that he was dismayed at the apparent lack of promotional interest in the fight, and Kawa explained that despite his client’s obvious disappointment, the matchup is one that could still happen further down the road.
“The situation was just like – I don’t want to get too much into it – it was pretty much (a case of): ‘Jon wants to fight Francis. He’s looking to get compensated for it.’ And they were like, ‘Maybe not right now. It’s not going to happen,’ and he was just taken aback by that,” Kawa said. “He was just like, ‘I can’t believe it’s not happening.’ Yeah, that’s pretty much how it went down. There’s nothing more to it. So in terms of negotiations and whatnot, it was just a flat ‘No.’
“I think everyone wants the matchup. I think everyone wants to see that happen. It’d be crazy not to, right? I don’t know what person out there doesn’t want to see Jon vs. Francis at some point. I think that’s fair.”
Kawa said he wouldn’t speculate on the UFC’s reasons for not pursuing such a big, fan-friendly fight, but he did suggest that there must be a larger plan behind that decision.
“I’m not going to answer for the UFC – that’s a loaded question,” Kawa said. “I don’t know why. You’d have to ask the UFC that question on why they just said no. I’m pretty sure you guys could get to Dana at some point. I have my own thoughts on what could be the reason, but I don’t know that they’re even valid. So I’m not going to put that out there and try to formulate something that may not even be real, so I’m not going to do that. If Dana says he’s not ready to do the fight, there has to be a reason for it. I think that question has to go to Dana and let Dana answer to everybody.”
With the Ngannou fight currently a non-runner, Kawa says the likely next move will be for Jones to defend his light heavyweight title for the 12th time in his career. “Bones” isn’t short of potential dance partners for the occasion, though Kawa said one name stands slightly above the rest.
“(Jones) said (Jan) Blachowicz is the next guy,” he said. “To him, Jon has never shied away from the No. 1 contender. He’s only fought No. 1 contenders his whole life – that’s all he’s been doing. To say that (it’s) (Dominick) Reyes, Blachowicz, (Glover) Texeira, (Thiago) Santos – in my eyes it’s all the same. No one of them is going to excite you more than the other. Blachowicz maybe, because he’s one we haven’t seen with Jon. We’ve seen Glover, we’ve seen Santos and we’ve seen Reyes. Blachowicz is one we haven’t seen with Jon and he carries a pop there, so that might be the one and he’s, I believe, rightfully the No. 1 guy. And if that’s the guy, then that’s the guy.
“But I would never tell you guys Jon has this guy in mind other than what he’s already said, and he’s already said that it’s Blachowicz.”
Jon Jones' manager says Francis Ngannou matchup still a possibility: 'It can always happen'
