“It’s Just Not Happening”: Renato Moicano Claims UFC Has Nothing to Gain From Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou Fight

Smrutisnat Jena | 07/12/2024
Francis Ngannou (L), Jon Jones (R)

UFC lightweight Renato Moicano believes Francis ‘The Predator’ Ngannou calling out Jon Jones means absolutely nothing since the fight will never actually take place. The Brazilian fighter believes that the UFC has nothing to gain from the situation and hence, would not even approach any scenario where this fight was a reality.

Why would the UFC put their champion against a PFL champion? They don’t have anything to gain. It’s just not happening. 

He was backed by UFC welterweight fighter, Gilbert Burns, who stressed that the way Ngannou had parted with the UFC had made it impossible for the company to do any business with him. He claims that he would love to see the fight like everybody else but despite the callout, it’s just not happening.


And he’s not wrong. Ngannou had left the company while he was still the heavyweight champion after Dana White and he couldn’t come to an agreement on what ‘The Predator’ claims were necessary changes to fighter pay structures within the company.

Ngannou has claimed that while White was willing to offer him a lot of money, there were other issues at hand. He wanted a guaranteed sum of money to be awarded to whoever his opponent would be; something that the UFC wasn’t willing to offer.

So he joined the PFL and got what he wanted.

Why didn’t Jones fight Ngannou before?

Funnily enough, days after he left the company, Jon Jones would announce his return to the octagon, and debut in the heavyweight division. Ngannou and Jones had been at loggerheads for years after Jones had dropped his light heavyweight title and announced that he wanted to test his skills at a higher weight class.

Jones then took 3 years to gain the necessary weight while Ngannou battled it out against heavyweights like Stipe Miocic, Derrick Lewis, Cain Velasquez, and Junior Dos Santos among others.

Years later, as public memory faded a bit, UFC president Dana White claimed that Ngannou was afraid of fighting Jones which is why he couldn’t make it happen back in the day.

“Francis is all about the money. Francis left because he knew that if he fought Jon Jones and didn’t win, it would hurt his chances of making the money that he wanted to make…But realistically, his deal was bigger here. His deal was bigger here if he stayed in the UFC. I think I’ve told this story a million times.”

Post Edited By: Smrutisnat Jena
Francis Ngannou Jon Jones

About the author

Smrutisnat Jena

Smrutisnat Jena is a UFC Editor with The SportsRush. With 8 years of experience under his belt, Smrutisnat has had a career that has travelled through the multiverse of journalism, be it politics, entertainment or satire. But as a practitioner of amateur wrestling, his true love has always been combat sports. After being introduced to Chuck Liddell at the age of 8, working with MMA has always been THE goal for him. When he's away from work, Smrutisnat likes hanging out with dogs, and sparring with his teammates at the local gym, often simultaneously.

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