Dana White has recently come under fire for missing out on a few potential superfights, especially in the case of Jon Jones. The UFC CEO could not materialize his wish to pair the former two-weight champion with the current undisputed heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall–a saga that stretched out for almost a year and a half. But years before the Englishman, it was Francis Ngannou who had the chance to fight Jones.
The discussions about Jon Jones fighting Francis Ngannou took shape in 2020, and at that time, this fight was at the top of Dana White and Co.’s wishlist. But when ‘The Predator’ departed the UFC in 2023, all hopes were lost until another prominent figure in the combat sports world came in to make the Jones vs Ngannou fight happen. But according to the Cameroonian-French star, the UFC CEO used an excuse to avoid doing business with him.
Francis Ngannou claims Dana White blocked the Jon Jones fight due to ‘c0-promotion’ issues
It’s no secret that there is no love lost between Dana White and Francis Ngannou. He never failed to take shots at the Cameroonian-French star, even after he departed from the promotion. Although there was no way for Jon Jones to fight ‘The Predator’ after the latter’s departure, the sentiment was strong among fans, and even GEA chairman HE Turki Alalshikh wanted to make this heavyweight clash come to fruition.
But that’s not it! Even Jon Jones, who didn’t want to have anything to do with Tom Aspinall, expressed his wish to fight Francis Ngannou, claiming it to be one of the biggest legacy fights ever. However, Dana White was not convinced. Despite co-promoting big fights with Conor McGregor in the past, he chose not to do the same with Jones and Ngannou.
“[Plans for him vs Jones] never got off. For sure, the UFC don’t want anything to do… don’t want any co-promotion stuff,” Francis Ngannou stated in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on YouTube. “I think even Turki [Alalshikh] tried to make that fight happen… didn’t work… I don’t know exactly [what UFC said], but I guess [they didn’t want to co-promote].”
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In the meantime, Francis Ngannou is not worried that his fight against Jon Jones did not happen. Instead, he shared his plans for what’s next in his fighting career. It appears that MMA could be taking a backseat because he wants another boxing match. Here’s what he had to say.
Ngannou wants Deontay Wilder
Francis Ngannou’s boxing career hasn’t yet paid dividends, but he still maintains his status as a top star and a big draw in all of combat sports. After fighting some of the biggest names in Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, his sights are now on Deontay Wilder. ‘The Bronze Bomber’ has long been speculated to fight Ngannou in boxing, and guess what? He’s mentioned being open to this matchup.
As such, Ngannou shared some good news! Although he mentioned that they have yet to have any kind of personal discussions together, ‘The Predator’ claims that there is hope that some kind of announcement will be made in the coming days. “We haven’t engaged personally, but it’s going to be soon. We are still setting some things up, but I keep training. I’m training,” Francis Ngannou added.
Well, it seems like Francis Ngannou is more concentrated on fighting big names at the moment. Since there’s a lack of it in the PFL, he’s decided to keep an eye out for star boxers. But what do you think about Dana White’s decision to avoid the Ngannou vs Jones fight? Let us know in the comments down below.
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