28 June 2023 , 10:35
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Francis Ngannou is still optimistic a fight with Jon Jones could take place if the UFC are open to working with the PFL.
Ngannou, 36, vacated his UFC heavyweight title and left the promotion at the beginning of the year in the hopes of pursuing a boxing fight. 'The Predator' is yet to have a fight lined up but he did sign with rival promotion PFL last month as he will make his debut for the organisation in their pay-per-view super-fight division next year.
Jones, 35, won the belt that Ngannou vacated by tapping out his former opponent Ciryl Gane in just two minutes at UFC 285 in March. 'Bones' labelled Ngannou as a "big a** p****" for leaving the UFC as the pair were linked to a fight for over three years. They recently came face-to-face at a PFL event in Atlanta and Ngannou has remained hopeful of a potential meeting in the cage.
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"It's still possible that the fight can happen. I think the UFC has to figure it out and do maybe a cross-promotion in order to give the fans what they want and make the fight happen. As soon as they decide to do that, everything will be ok because all the parties are down for the fight except one," Ngannou told TMZ.
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"It was very exciting because it's been three years that we have been talking about this fight, so it was good to meet each other in person. I think we respect each other as athletes although we have this rivalry and everybody wants to know who is the biggest dog in the room."
Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones faced off at a recent PFL event (Getty Images)Jones took three years away from the cage to prepare for his move to heavyweight and despite beating Gane in flawless fashion, Ngannou wasn't entirely impressed with his rival's performance. The Cameroonian warned Jones that he will be in for a rough night if they do meet further down the line.
"I will say I am more comfortable with a heavier Jon Jones than the Jon Jones of light heavyweight because of course, he gave an impressive performance against Ciryl Gane, but for the first minute, the first interaction and striking, he didn't look good. "He never faced a guy like me, a real sized heavyweight. I think Ciryl was a perfect fighter to run into because there wasn't a threat. He's not a guy that's gonna knock you out with one shot," he added.