Francis Ngannou: Jon Jones has the tools, but Stipe Miocic may be tougher

Francis Ngannou lauds Jon Jones for his skills, but thinks Stipe Miocic may be the tougher man.

Ngannou (16-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) captured the heavyweight title with a second-round knockout of Miocic at UFC 260, avenging his 2018 loss to the consensus greatest heavyweight of all time.

Ngannou has looked unstoppable of late, starching his past five opponents with relative ease. He now finds himself on a collision course with former UFC light heavyweight king Jones, but the pair is facing some hurdles that could put their desired matchup in jeopardy.

Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) has been in a public spat with the UFC about his desire to get paid more, even requesting his release at different points. Although his actions are delaying the fight with Ngannou, the heavyweight champ understands where Jones is coming from.

“Everybody in this position would like to get compensated,” Ngannou said on the “Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson” podcast. “Basically, a guy like Jones, he’s been around for very long and been doing this sport, and (the UFC) grows. I think there’s nothing wrong about (wanting to get paid more). But I don’t know what the deal is. I would like that fight to happen – that would definitely be the No. 1 fight.”

Having been in there with Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) twice, Ngannou knows how tough he is. Miocic was able to endure some clean shots from Ngannou in Round 1 of their rematch, but was eventually clipped and stopped at the start of Round 2. Although Jones is known for his fight IQ and ability to absorb minimal damage, Ngannou isn’t sure he’d able to withstand as much as Miocic.

“Jon Jones definitely has more tools in his pocket than Stipe, but I’m not sure he’s tougher than Stipe though,” Ngannou said.

The dream scenario for the Cameroon-born Ngannou would be defending his title against Jones in Africa. He hopes they can have their own rendition of the historic “Rumble in the Jungle” boxing match, in which Muhammad Ali dethroned George Foreman to capture the heavyweight title in Zaire.

“I think they can recreate ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ – the idea,” Ngannou said. “That would be something dope, and I’m definitely going to be a part of that. I wish they’d do it pretty soon, maybe something with Jones. We’re going to recreate ‘Rumble in the Jungle.’ That’s something epic, and now that Africa stands as a figure of combat sports, we have to go back to that.”