If Ciryl Gane can get past Francis Ngannou at UFC 270 this weekend, he would welcome a fight with Jon Jones in his first title defence.
Interim heavyweight titleholder Gane will attempt to unify his belt against current undisputed champion Ngannou in the promotion's first pay-per-view of the year.
The champions briefly trained with each other at the MMA Factory in Paris, but Ngannou left the gym in 2018 after falling out with head coach Fernand Lopez.
Former light heavyweight champion Jones has been poised to make his heavyweight debut since 2020, but has not fought in two years due to contractual disagreements with the UFC.
And Gane said it would be a "pleasure" to fight the former pound-for-pound No.1 Jones with a win at UFC 270.
“This will be a pleasure if I win [at UFC 270] against Francis, yes I want to fight against Jon Jones. This is the next one," Gane said at the UFC 270 media day.
“A lot of people talk about that already because we are maybe the more well-rounded guys in this division and a lot of people talk about a technical fight. It will probably be a good matchup. Yes, if it’s possible, we’re going to do this.”
Gane has soared through the ranks since making his UFC debut in 2019, winning the interim title last August in just his seventh fight for the promotion.
UFC president Dana White has labelled Ngannou and Gane's fight as one of, if not the, "best heavyweight matchup ever".
Ngannou said although he has never been friends with Gane, he is on neutral terms with his former sparring partner and only dislikes his old coach Lopez.
And Lopez thinks his fighter will give Jones his toughest test out of everyone in the heavyweight division.
“It’s exciting. They’re going to fight no matter what happens with this fight,” he told Low Kick MMA.
Who wins at UFC 270, Ngannou or Gane? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
"Ciryl Gane and Jon Jones are going to fight down the road at some point. Jon coming to heavyweight, there’s not a tougher fight for him. Fight IQ vs. Fight IQ, a lot of experience vs. a lot of freshness.
“There’s not a lot of fighters who can put themselves in a position where they are at a disadvantage and can still win.
"For example, with Jon, everything is spinning… and that’s scary for heavyweights.
"The fact that Ciryl isn’t as powerful as Francis, will equalise things with Jon Jones since he’s coming from light heavyweight. They’re going to fight, 100 per cent, we can’t avoid that collision.”
