Francis Ngannou will return to MMA on May 16. | PFL
MMA
One of the bigger “what if” fights in recent MMA history was a
potential heavyweight booking between Francis
Ngannou and Jon Jones.
While both men were once under the
UFCbanner, the bout never came to fruition, as the promotion
had difficulties negotiating with both men at various times during
their respective tenures. According to Ngannou, Jones was never a
realistic possibility while he was in the UFC.
“It was never really on the table, so I don’t have to be
disappointed. The only time that he seems like a possibility was
when he was used as bait, something to bait me,” Ngannou told
ESPN.
Ngannou eventually left the UFC, vacating the heavyweight title in
the process. He then signed with
Professional Fighters League, which allowed him to compete in
lucrative boxing matches against Tyson Fury
and Anthony
Joshua prior to his debut. In his lone PFL appearance, “The
Predator” knocked out Renan
Ferreira in October 2024. Ngannou was released from his
contract earlier this year, and he will make his long awaited MMA
return against Philipe
Lins at
Most Valuable Promotions “Rousey vs. Carano” on May 16 at the
Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
“Of course, it was frustrating,” Ngannou said of the layoff. “It
wasn’t my choice, but at the end of the day, it’s about what you
can do, what you have to do … As much as I love fighting, my life
is not only fighting. I have a life and I’m trying to make it work
in parallel with my fighting career.”
With his 40th birthday on the horizon, Ngannou doesn’t lack for
motivation as he prepares for Lins.
“I’m still excited about doing it,” he said. “I get excited when I
say, OK I’m going to a camp. I call the guys, OK boys, we go. It’s
cool. You have that experience … It’s your routine. It’s your life.
It’s part of you.
“Then something that people don’t always talk about is also
financial. It’s my job.I have to bring money. I have to bring money
[to] the house.”
In It for the Long Haul?
MVP and Netflix have made waves by partnering for their first MMA
card, enlisting big names like Ngannou, Ronda
Rousey, Gina Carano,
Mike
Perry and Nate Diaz,
among others. Those involved have expressed hope that this will be
more than a one-off event, and Ngannou would also like to see the
partnership have some staying power — because more options are also
better for the fighters.
“I hope that they stay around for long term and also the way that
they are doing it. It would also be great to see another platform,
to see something that can provide opportunity to other fighters,”
Ngannou said. “Because I think also one of the reasons that some
fighters get locked in a contract is because they are afraid of the
outside. They are afraid of the unknown. They don’t know what is
out there. They are not seeing any possibility. So it freaks them
out. They’d rather get something that they are safe. Even if it’s
not enough, then at least they’re like, ‘OK, this is better than
nothing.’”
With that in mind, Ngannou acknowledges that “freedom” is his theme
heading into the matchup with Lins.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m free of every contract and I’m still
out here still doing it,” he said. “This is a proof of the faith
that I was talking earlier of something could happen at any given
moment if you can just wait… I stay consistent and then consistent
in my faith, in my hope, and then I stay free. I keep that freedom.
If I wasn’t free, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity.”
While Ngannou didn’t think Jones was a realistic fight for him in
the UFC, facing “Bones” would still be a bucket-list item for the
former heavyweight champion. With Jones flirting with retirement
while still under UFC contract, it still seems more like a pipe
dream than a concrete possibility.
“Jon Jones is the fight that I really want to have before my
retirement,” Ngannou said. “But other than that, it could be
anybody, I don’t care. As long as it’s a fight. I’m not saying it’s
a fight that would define my career or something, but if I had to
pick, OK let’s do this one and go home, then it would be Jon
Jones.”