Former UFC champion Francis Ngannou has rubbished Dana White‘s claims that he didn’t want to fight Jon Jones at heavyweight. The UFC CEO has recently claimed that the former UFC heavyweight champion didn’t want to fight Jones before leaving the UFC early last year.

However, Ngannou has contradicted these claims. Speaking to reporters, ‘The Predator’ said that the truth was the polar opposite of what White had claimed, revealing that the UFC had told Ngannou time and again Jones didn’t want to fight him despite the Cameroonian asking for the fight repeatedly.

“As far as I’m concerned, it was Jon Jones who didn’t want to fight with me, according to them. And so many times we sat down in the meeting [with the UFC brass] and they’re like ‘Jon Jones doesn’t wanna fight anymore. He live his small life, he has a lot of money in his bank account.’ So I think the guy who controls the narrative can say whatever he wants, but that’s just the narrative. I was the one requesting a Jon Jones fight,” Ngannou said.

And it isn’t just Francis Ngannou who is claiming that Jones didn’t want to fight him. Dana White himself, once upon a time, had claimed that Jones wasn’t too enthusiastic about fighting him. But that was back when the Cameroonian was still in the UFC. The UFC CEO had claimed in 2021 that Jones had demanded a $30 million purse to fight Ngannou. This, of course, was seen as a clear attempt by ‘Bones’ to price himself out of an Ngannou fight, without actually turning it down.

But now, with Ngannou out of the UFC and Jon Jones having become the apple of White’s eye, he is claiming the exact opposite. However, Ngannou doesn’t seem too concerned about White’s latest comments and is gearing up to finally make his PFL debut.

Francis Ngannou will fight in the PFL for the first time since exiting Dana White-led UFC

Francis Ngannou left the UFC last year without any other offers on the table. He has admitted that since he wasn’t sure he would get a contract from another organization, he was fully prepared to go back to Africa and be a farmer since the UFC is a virtual monopoly and his bank account was quickly depleting.

However, the PFL offered him a contract a few months after his UFC exit and saved his MMA career. Now, after more than a year with the Donn Davis-founded promotion, he will appear in the PFL cage for the first time on October 19.

His opponent? The 2023 PFL heavyweight champion and Brazilian dynamo Renan Ferreira, who, at 6’8″ and 265 pounds is not just a physical specimen, but is a veritable knockout artist, holding one-punch knockout power in his fists, just like Ngannou. While ‘Problema’ has not faced anyone on the level of Ngannou yet, his power, speed, and size will undoubtedly be a problem for ‘The Predator.’ What are your predictions for Ngannou vs. Ferreira?