This is it, right? Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou was the No. 1 fight on MMA Junkie’s wish list for 2023, and it is again for 2024.
However, now more than ever it seems this one won’t happen. Ngannou is signed to PFL for MMA and it etching his name into boxing’s heavyweight division with a March 8 bout vs. Anthony Joshua, and Jones is signed to the UFC, and currently sidelined after recent surgeries on his shoulder and elbow.
Both are closer to the beginning of all contractual obligations than they are the ends, so barring what would be a shocking and unprecedented co-promotion agreement by the UFC with PFL, the outlook is grim. I won’t hold my breath for this one, but as Ngannou recently stated: Dreaming is free.
Tom Aspinall has certainly made things interesting, but the argument of who’s the baddest man on the planet still lies between Jones and Ngannou. And until these to get locked in a cage, we can only speculate on the answer. Strange things happen in MMA, so maybe somehow we can get this one before it sails away. It would be a true shame if these two never fight.
