MMA fans around the world want a Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou matchup sometime in the future, but in a way, UFC president Dana White thinks the world has already seen it.
Since Ngannou and the UFC officially parted ways, White has dismissed the possibility of a reunion between the two parties. Friday in an interview with TMZ Sports, White expressed similar sentiments – but added Jones would likely handle Ngannou the way he did Ciryl Gane at UFC 285.
“I’m not interested (in that fight),” White said. “I tried making that fight for two years. He didn’t want the fight. Do you know what I mean? He didn’t want the fight. He left here without even having another deal in place. And I know how the boxing world is. It’s crazy. But Francis didn’t want to do it.
“I tried to make that fight for two years, and let me tell you what. I think a lot of other people feel this way. I think that’s exactly the way the fight would’ve gone if (Ngannou) was in there, too. Him and Ciryl had a five-round war (at UFC 270 in January 2022). If Ciryl doesn’t go for that submission, Ciryl probably wins that fight at the end of the fifth round there.”
Jones, 35, returned from a three-year hiatus March 4 when he submitted Gane with a guillotine choke in 2:04 to win the heavyweight title vacated by Ngannou. After the fight, Ngannou backhandedly complimented Jones, to which Jones called Ngannou “a big old p*ssy.”
Dana White: Jon Jones would have beat Francis Ngannou ‘exactly’ like he did Ciryl Gane