In the UFC, there are many fights that fans fantasize about. But not all of them see the light of the octagon. Such is the heavyweight fight between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou. Jon Jones, the former light heavyweight UFC champion and arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time vacated his title in 2020. He announced his move to the heavyweight division for new challenges. Ever since then, fans were speculating about a mega-fight between the then-champion Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones.
Unfortunately, that never happened, and this fight remained a what-if in the history books of the UFC, like many others. Today we look at all the reasons this heavyweight title bout never came to fruition.
Why Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou never happened?
‘The Predator’ became a UFC champion in 2021. But it is safe to say that Ngannou has never been UFC’s favorite champion. The Cameroonian star for a long time had his differences with the promotion regarding his pay and contract.
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After becoming a champion, Ngannou also went through knee surgery. During that course of time, UFC made an interim heavyweight title fight between Ciryl Gane and Derrick Lewis. However, it wasn’t well received by Ngannou, which made things worse.
Ultimately, Gane won the interim title and unified it against the Cameroonian at UFC 270 in January. It was clear through the lead-up to the bout that Gane was the company’s favorite over Ngannou. However, ‘The Predator’ turned the tables and defeated Gane via a dominant performance.
Following that, it was sure that former light heavyweight champion Jones would face Ngannou for the title. Unfortunately, there was a huge fallout earlier this year in the negotiations between Ngannou and the company.
It was reported that ‘The Predator’ has vacated the title and exited the promotion. Ngannou later revealed money wasn’t the issue. In fact, he was offered a sum that would have made him the highest-paid UFC heavyweight ever.
But Ngannou wanted a few more things in his UFC contract. He stated that he didn’t feel free in the present contract as his demands for health insurance, a boxing match, and more weren’t considered.
Jones vs. Gane at UFC 285
After Francis Ngannou’s exit from the UFC, the heavyweight title was vacated and the dreams of fans witnessing Jones vs. Ngannou were shattered. However, later UFC scheduled Jones against the Frenchman and former interim champion Ciryl Gane.
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The fight is happening this weekend inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It has already garnered a lot of attention from the fans, as Gane is also one of the best heavyweights in the UFC. He has impressive striking which will be put to test against Jones.
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Meanwhile, ‘Bones’ is already regarded as the greatest fighter, who has dominated the light heavyweight division for years. However, if he wins the heavyweight title, there won’t be enough for him to prove in the sport.
What are your predictions for this heavyweight bout? What do you guys think about Ngannou vs. Gane not happening?
