Ngannou: Jones fight 'probably will never happen'
Francis Ngannou doesn't have much faith that a fight with Jon Jones will ever come to fruition.
The former UFC heavyweight champion pointed to Jones recently signing a lengthy deal with the UFC as the main reason the blockbuster fight is unlikely.
"(It's) a fight that I would have liked to have, but unfortunately, we are not there," Ngannou said in a video on his YouTube channel. "That fight didn't happen and probably will never happen now that he's on a very long contract with the UFC. That's not happening anymore."
The UFC had eyed a matchup between Ngannou and Jones for the better part of the last three years. However, the promotion's financial dispute with Jones delayed talks, and then Ngannou fought out his contract and subsequently left the UFC in January to end the discussions for good.
Last weekend, Jones returned from a three-year layoff in the UFC 285 main event and easily defeated Ciryl Gane to capture the vacant UFC heavyweight title. The former longtime light heavyweight champion - and now once again the pound-for-pound king - agreed to a new eight-fight contract with the UFC before the bout.
Jones was optimistic he may eventually fight Ngannou as recently as late February, saying he could see "The Predator" taking a boxing match before returning to the UFC. However, Jones changed his tune Thursday, tweeting he "highly" doubts Ngannou would ever agree to the fight and left the UFC "for a reason."
Ngannou, who plans to compete in the ring this summer, added he was surprised by the quickness of Jones' UFC 285 win. Jones got Gane to the ground and submitted him with a guillotine choke in just over two minutes, recording his first stoppage victory in the opening round since 2012.
"That was quite a great performance from Jones," Ngannou said.
He added: "Jon didn't want to give (Gane) space because I think he was afraid of something, maybe of getting exhausted at some point and not being able to grab him. So he was chasing him from the first minute to grab him. It worked out pretty good, but it tells me something - like he wasn't very confident, he was rushing."