Jon Jones has plenty of interesting matchups on the menu, and a fight with Francis Ngannou is one of the most compelling of the bunch.
Jones faced some adversity in the form of Thiago Santos during his last fight. He defeated ‘Marreta’ by split decision in July at UFC 239. Since then, he has not set foot in the cage, but has remained in the headlines.
No. 4 ranked light-heavyweight, Dominick Reyes called for a fight against Jones after beating Chris Weidman at UFC Boston. Reyes is the highest-ranked light heavyweight fighter that has yet to face the champion. However, Jones has seemingly dismissed Reyes’ request, saying his rival needs another win first.
Middleweight fighter Israel Adesanya has also called for a matchup with Jones after defeating Robert Whittaker at UFC 243. Jon Jones was not impressed and attacked the middleweight champ online, sparking a fiery feud between the UFC superstars.
As an alternative, the champion suggested a fight against the winner of Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier 3. The heavyweight legends are expected to fight for a third time in the new year.
I should just wait for the winner of DC and Stipe? Let these light heavies figure out who’s going to present the best challenge https://t.co/PfTK5LxrJN
— BONY (@JonnyBones) October 19, 2019
The winner of this Cormier vs. Miocic trilogy isn’t the only heavyweight matchup that Jon Jones has his sights on. When a fan asked him about a potential fight against Francis Ngannou, he stated:
“I feel like that fight is inevitable.”
I feel like that fight is inevitable https://t.co/3r5Wvl6t93
— BONY (@JonnyBones) October 23, 2019
The French-Cameroonian heavyweight Ngannou is known for his fight-ending power, which has spelled disaster for legends like Andrei Arlovski, Alistair Overeem, Cain Velasquez, and Junior dos Santos. He is riding the momentum of three first-round knockout wins.
Jones previously said that he would not move up to heavyweight to fight Daniel Cormier. His openness to fight the winner of the Miocic vs. Cormier trilogy or Francis Ngannou represents a change of tune for the fighter and a newfound openness to fight in different weight classes.
Do you think we’ll see a Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou fight in the future?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/23/2019.