DANA WHITE has seemingly opened the door for a crossover fight between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou.
MMA fans were licking their lips at the prospect of former pound-for-pound king Jones moving up to heavyweight to face Ngannou after he vacated the 205-pound title in August 2020.
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But the fight appeared dead after Ngannou was unable to reach a new deal with the UFC and subsequently joined the Professional Fighters League last May.
Optimistic fight fans, however, held out the prospect that the fight would one day come to fruition, as both promotions have the same broadcast partner – ESPN.
The once slim hopes that the pair would someday share the Octagon, however, have since increased, as both promotions now work with Saudi bigwig Turki Alalashikh.
Alalshikh has revolutionized boxing over the past six months as part of the Saudi government’s Riyadh Season, which will be the first title sponsor of a UFC PPV show.
And White admits he’ll listen to any cross-promotional ideas Alalshikh has – including one to do Jones vs Ngannou.
He said: “I respect what he has done with boxing. This is the only guy who has been able to do this and have these great fights.
“And the fights are good, you don’t have guys coming in and avoiding fights to get to the next pay day.
“What this guy has done in a short space of time is incredible, so obviously we’re talking about a lot of different options with him.
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“I respect him. I like him, so we’ll see what future safe.”
White’s revelation about his apparent willingness to promote a fight between Jones and Ngannou – whose prospect he pooped on last November – comes just weeks after he claimed the promotion’s former heavyweight champion did not want to face his successor .
During an appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast, White said: “He [Jones] leaves for three years, comes back and beats Ciryl Gane.
“Like this! Easily! And in my opinionhe does the same thing with Francisco.
“100%. Do the same thing with Francisco.”
He continued: “Francis didn’t want to fight Jon Jones. There’s nothing for him to prove now.
“He’s already moved up to heavyweight and passed – Francis Ngannou barely managed to get past Ciryl Gane.
“If Ciryl Gane doesn’t submit, Ciryl Gane wins the fight. Jon Jones passed him.”
Jones, 36, has not stepped into the Octagon since winning the heavyweight title last March, but is expected to face former champion Stipe Miocic in November.
Ngannou, meanwhile, hasn’t fought since his brutal second-round knockout defeat to Anthony Joshua in March.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
