Going through a breakup? Need a one-liner to make yourself feel better? You might want to borrow from Dana White’s book of classic dismissals. “I was all about Francis in the beginning, and then I found out who Francis was.” Timeless. “Believe me: I have no sleepless nights over Francis leaving.” Pure gold. But this isn’t about relationship advice. It’s about the heavyweight fight that never happened and the mind games that never stopped. Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou was the fight every MMA fan wanted.
Yet somehow, it slipped through the cracks in early 2023. And just like that, the debate about who the true “baddest man on the planet” remains unsettled. And when Jones’ last opponent, Stipe Miocic, weighed in on the matter, things got interesting. Especially for Chael Sonnen, who is never one to let a spicy take go to waste. “Between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou, Stipe went with Francis,” Sonnen said on his podcast, adding, “Jon got very nasty to Stipe. If you’re not aware that this is just the process Jon goes through, you could get your feelings hurt.” But wait, Sonnen elaborated on Jones’ tactics. “And I give Jon a full pass. Beating Jon almost takes like a weird ingredient. A last-minute fight, a change in opponent.”
Ah yes, the Jon Jones process. A tried and true formula of subtle digs. Coupled with righteous indignation and a side of playing the victim. Or in Sonnen’s flowery words, “Jon also likes to be a victim. He just likes that. ‘The side that I stand on is righteous,’ thus needing to make his opponent a very bad guy.” So, Bones doesn’t just want to win fights. He wants to convince you he’s fighting the forces of darkness while doing it. Very Bryce Mitchell-esque.
Miocic, who has fought both ‘The Predator’ and Jones, was uniquely positioned to weigh in on the hypothetical matchup. When asked by The Schmo who he thought would win in a fight, he leaned toward Ngannou,“Well, Francis, you know, he’s got great power.”
“And he’s getting better every fight.” He did acknowledge Jones’ tactical brilliance, calling him “one of the best of all time.” But noted that “if Francis connects, (it’s) all over.” And that was enough to ruffle some very sensitive feathers. But how did we miss out on the heavyweight champ’s defining trait?
Can you spot the prelude to Jon Jones’ victim play?
Jon Jones isn’t just a mega talent inside the Octagon. He’s a psychological puppeteer. He doesn’t just fight his opponents. He mentally moves them around the board like chess pieces, setting them up before they even step into the cage. According to Sonnen, this is all part of the game. “What Jon was accusing Stipe of was just to get him in the right frame of mind,” Sonnen explained. “I think it offended him. And I think because of that offense, it has clouded the decision to say that Francis would beat him.”
And let’s be real, Jones pulling this tactic isn’t new. The man has been running this psychological operation since the early days of his career. Jones himself admitted to sabotaging his own performances just so he’d have an excuse if things went south. “I had this crazy thing that I would do where I would party one week before every fight,” Jones told Joe Rogan on JRE #880. “And I did it throughout my whole career. And it was stupid, but it was this mental crutch that I had.”
A mental crutch. That’s one way to put it. Another way? An insurance policy against failure. “I would go out and get blacked out wasted. And my logic was, if this guy were to beat me somehow, I can look myself in the mirror and say, the reason I lost is because I got hammered the week before the fight.” Now, this might sound insane to the average person, but to Jones, it was just another tactic. The ultimate ‘get out of jail free’ card. And guess what? He never really had to cash it in, because he kept winning. Even as arrests, failed drug tests, and legal troubles piled up, enough to make a criminal defense attorney rich, Jones kept his narrative intact.
But coming back to the issue that concerns us, who actually is the baddest man on the planet? Francis Ngannou’s departure from the UFC left a gaping hole in that conversation. Jones is technically the champ, but he never beat the last man to hold the belt. Miocic, having fought both, offered his opinion, but was it a genuine take or, as Sonnen suggests, a decision clouded by Jones’ relentless mental warfare? Will the Jones-Ngannou saga ever come to fruition? And if it does, will Jones find a way to frame ‘The Predator’ as the ultimate villain? Maybe. Especially since this narrative aligns perfectly with Dana White’s own thoughts. If that’s the case, he just might allow it. Who knows? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
The post “Jon Also Likes to Be a Victim”— Chael Sonnen Exposes Jon Jones’ “Weird” Tactics to Answer Francis Ngannou Question appeared first on EssentiallySports.