Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou will go down as one of the biggest UFC fights that never happened. If this colossal fight had happened, promotion CEO Dana White is sure Jones would have won easily like he did against Ciryl Gane last year.
“In my opinion, [Jones] He does the same to Francisco [that he did to Gane]”White said during an appearance on the Shay Shay Club podcast. “One hundred percent, he does the same to Francisco.”
Jones, the most dominant light heavyweight in MMA history and one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport, faced Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023. It was his first fight in the heavyweight pision and his opportunity to become two. pision champion, with the weight class’s vacant belt on the line. He won the fight easily, submitting Gane in one round.
Meanwhile, Ngannou reigned in the UFC heavyweight pision until he parted ways with the promotion in early 2023. He defeated Gane by unanimous decision in his last fight in the octagon.
“[Jones] I already went up to heavyweight and went through [Gane]”said White. “Francis Ngannou barely managed to get past Ciryl Gane.
“Jon Jones walked through it.”
Ngannou left the UFC because he felt he was underpaid by the promotion and because his contract would not allow him to pursue lucrative opportunities in the boxing ring.
Until he left the promotion, he and Jones were constantly linked to a fight together, but that never happened.
According to White, that’s not because it hasn’t been tried. The UFC boss also insists that the fight’s failure had nothing to do with Jones’ reluctance.
“We did everything in our power to try to get Jon Jones to fight, but it is what it is,” he said.
“Jon Jones is not afraid of Francisco,” he added. “Francis doesn’t want to fight Jon Jones.”
Jones defended the light heavyweight title 13 times over the course of two title reigns, defeating some of the best fighters in the pision’s history along the way. The only loss on his record came when he was disqualified for attacking Matt Hamill with illegal elbows 12-6 years before winning the belt for the first time.
That streak, in White’s estimation, makes the two-pision champion “the worst fighter to ever exist in any combat sport.”
“Jon Jones is undefeated in the UFC,” White said. “He has one loss on his record. He lost against Steve Mazzagatti. Do you know what that is? He’s the worst [expletive] referee to referee any fight. [Jones] He never lost, and he went through the murderer’s corridor. He then goes out for three years, comes back and beats Ciryl Gane easily.”
Jones hasn’t fought since winning the vacant title by defeating Gane last year, but has frequently been linked with a title fight with former champion Stipe Miocic. In the time since he’s been away, the promotion has crowned an interim heavyweight champion in Tom Aspinall, but the plan still appears to be for Jones to fight Miocic before attempting to unify the titles.
Ngannou, meanwhile, was quickly rewarded after leaving the UFC, landing a successful boxing match with heavyweight star Tyson Fury. Despite being a gigantic underdog coming into the ring, he shocked viewers by knocking Fury down and coming up short with a narrow decision loss. He was later booked for a boxing match with Anthony Joshua, but suffered a brutal second-round knockout loss and has not fought since.
If the former UFC heavyweight champion ever returns to MMA competition, it will be with the Professional Fighters League, with whom he signed a contract shortly after leaving the UFC.