UFC president Dana White has shut down Saudi plans to match Jon Jones against Francis Ngannou.
Jones retained the UFC heavyweight title against divisional great Stipe Miocic in November, seemingly setting up a defence against interim champion Tom Aspinall.
Jones has said he is more likely to retire or return to light-heavyweight – where he was a two-time champion – than fight Aspinall. But White insists that Jones vs Aspinall will be next for each fighter.
That is despite the wishes of Turki Al-Sheikh, the Saudi adviser behind the Gulf state’s boxing ventures. Saudi Arabia recently began staging MMA events, too, and Al-Sheikh said this week that he wants to arrange Jones vs Ngannou.
Ngannou was UFC heavyweight champion from 2021 until early 2023, when he vacated the title upon leaving the promotion. He then joined the PFL, before Jones won the vacant UFC belt.
Next, Ngannou boxed twice in Saudi Arabia, dropping Tyson Fury but losing a controversial decision in October 2023, and suffering a knockout loss to Anthony Joshua this March. But Ngannou’s return to MMA was a successful one, as he beat Renan Ferreira via TKO two months ago.
While Al-Sheikh and the PFL are keen on a crossover bout between Ngannou and Jones, White is opposed to such a move – in part due to his longstanding issues with Ngannou.
One Instagram user put the prospect of Jones vs Ngannou to White this week, and the UFC president replied: “Not true. Jon vs Tom [is next].”
Earlier in the week, Al-Sheikh told Ariel Helwani and Ade Oladipo: “I have, on the table, two options for Francis. The MMA... You know, all the time, my answer is: we want to do the biggest things…
“We need to send Dana White to the moon.”
Al-Sheikh also suggested that the second option for Ngannou was a boxing match with former champion Deontay Wilder.
