Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Did Francis Ngannou Avoid Jon Jones?

Originally posted on Dice City Sports | By Robert LaMar | Last updated Aug 27, 2024 11:45 PM ET

Francis Ngannou was stripped of the UFC heavyweight title in January 2023 and became an unrestricted free agent shortly after. Jon Jones shortly after made his much anticipated move up to heavyweight and fought for the vacant title. Jones made short work of Gane and became the UFC heavyweight champion in March 2023. Did Francis Ngannou really avoid Jon Jones?

UFC President Dana White made it clear that Ngannou “didn’t want the fight”. Once Ngannou left the UFC, that fight was dead. Ngannou and Jones faced off with each other at a PFL event in 2023. The two went back and forth on why the fight didn’t happen. The conversation didn’t get heated and seemed to have ended with a mutual respect between the two.

Jon Jones & Francis N’Gannou FACE OFF #PFLRegularSeason pic.twitter.com/TXhKwmTvdi

— David Van Auken (@DavidVanAuken) June 17, 2023

Ngannou controls himself not the other way around

“That’s the new narrative,” said Ngannou, who will compete in MMA for the first time in over 2 years when he faces Ferreira. “Dana White had to say something. As far as I’m concerned, Jon Jones didn’t want to fight me, according to the UFC. So many times we sat down to make the fight and they said, ‘Oh it can’t happen, Jon Jones doesn’t want to fight anymore.'”

Without a doubt Ngannou made it clear that he wanted the Jon Jones fight. But he didn’t want to sign into a contract that wasn’t going to be fair in his eyes which made him walk away.

“The guy who controls the narrative can say what he wants,” Ngannou said of the failed negotiations. “But that’s not the narrative. I requested the Jon Jones fight. But I didn’t want it to be a trap to get into a new deal with the UFC that I didn’t want.”

This article first appeared on Dice City Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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