Francis Ngannou proved that an almost two-year hiatus from the cage could take nothing away from him. He stepped in as usual and, as usual, knocked his opponent, Philipe Lins, out in the very first round with a thunderous overhand left. Despite the impressive win, what followed was a callout prompted by ever the “instigator,” MMA journalist Ariel Helwani.
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After the stellar knockout, Ariel Helwani, during the post-fight interview, reminded Ngannou that his longtime UFC rival, Jon Jones, was seated right there in the broadcast booth, analyzing his fight. As the former UFC heavyweight champion scanned the arena for Jones, Helwani made it easier by pointing Jones out to him. He then proceeded to ask Francis Ngannou about the chances of him fighting Jon Jones under the MVP banner.
“What I said before, Jon Jones is a great fighter, probably the best that has ever done MMA,” Ngannou replied. “But I think in terms of business, he has something to learn. He should be watching what I’m doing and learn, and if he gets it now, we he should be able to figure it out and come and make this fight. Because this fight is gonna happen before we retire.”
By business, the former UFC heavyweight champion implied Jon Jones’ existing contract with Dana White’s UFC. Though ‘Bones’ retired last year, he still has fights left on his deal. To put it more precisely, the former UFC two-division champion signed an eight-fight contract with the UFC in 2023 and has only competed in two bouts against Ciryl Gane (UFC 285) and Stipe Miocic (UFC 309) since then. So, technically, Jon Jones still has six fights left on his UFC contract, and ‘Bones’ understands that it would be a tough road to maneuver if he ever decides to return to competition.
😱‼️Francis Ngannou CALLS OUT Jon Jones #RouseyCarano
“I’ve got to try to focus on getting out of my UFC contract,” Jones said in his reply. “That’s going to be the difficult part if this fight [with Francis Ngannou] is going to happen. I don’t think Dana is interested in doing business with Francis, so doing it with MVP would probably be the only way to make it happen, and if we can get out of my contract, that would be great.”
With Jones expressing his interest in clashing with Ngannou under the MVP banner, there are a few ways he could get out of his existing UFC contract. The former champ would either need to fulfill his remaining bouts, negotiate with the UFC, utilize the sunset clause, or wait for the promotion to voluntarily let him out of his contract, which is easier said than done. Francis Ngannou’s exit from the UFC happened because of the ‘sunset clause,’ which allows a contract to expire after a certain period of time. However, it remains unclear whether Jones’ contract includes that particular clause or not.
Now, even though Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones could probably sell out an entire arena within minutes, fans were not very hopeful about the fight actually happening after years of dismay caused by the UFC failing to make the fight. So when Ariel Helwani brought up the scenario once again, fans put him under fire for even speculating about it.
Ariel Helwani faces backlash for suggesting Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones clash
One fan quickly chimed in and wrote, “Why is Ariel even asking Ngannou about Jones? We know that Jones is 1) retired and 2) under UFC contract. Why even bother?” Another fan remarked, “He is under pressure to create TV drama for Netflix.”
To be fair, a journalist like Ariel Helwani is expected to know that Jones is still under UFC contract. But cutting a promo like that could help in negotiating terms with the UFC if Jake Paul’s MVP wants to put the fight together in the future.
Still, the backlash against Helwani continued as another fan commented, “Because he’s an instigator,” taking a jab at Helwani for stirring up drama. Following that, another fan advised the UFC to take this opportunity and make the fight happen under their banner.
The fan wrote, “The UFC is a billion-dollar industry. For once, they can put their hand in their pocket and pay some money to get Francis Ngannou back, considering I think he must be a free-agent mercenary in all this. But it looks like they’re pushing a big-money Jon Jones fight on #NetflixMMA.”
Well, Ngannou would likely remain a free agent after his fight with Philipe Lins until MVP signs him for another bout. In that case, the UFC could actually bring him back, and the Cameroonian-French heavyweight has already stated that he’d be interested in fighting in the UFC if the contract is right. However, nobody knows whether Dana White would ever sign him back because of their personal issues.
Lastly, even though Helwani got some pushback for suggesting the bout between Ngannou and Jones, one fan believes that’s the fight the MMA world needs right now: “Ngannou vs Jones, we need this fight big time!! Francis just said Jon is in a cage, and when he finds a way out of the cage, that fight can happen before he retires.”
The MMA world remains hopeful that two mega stars like Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou would one day collide. However, with contractual issues tying up ‘Bones,’ making the clash happen becomes all the more complicated. So, at least for now, the fight remains one of the biggest “what ifs” in MMA folklore.
