Jon Jones has been suggested as an alternative opponent to Francis Ngannou for Tyson Fury's planned crossover bout with a UFC star.
Fury recently defeated Dillian Whyte in his latest heavyweight outing before confirming his plans to retire from the ring. However he immediately backtracked on his claim and has admitted he would share the ring with the UFC's heavyweight champion Ngannou.
But UFC legend Chael Sonnen believes Jones would be selected by UFC president Dana White if he was forced to put either fighter in a crossover bout with the 'Gypsy King'. "If you had an option would you like to see Jon Jones versus Fury or would you like to see Francis versus Fury?," Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. I hypothesise you would go with Jones and I also speculate you go with Jones for one very clear reason.
"People don't watch Jon Jones and this Jon Jones with that heavyweight business is only working for one reason because it seems like a mountain too tall to climb and people are waiting to see him get beat. The number one thing people want to see, and they love the idea of Francis versus Jon.
"There's a part of the fan that gets drawn to in every sport. It's not negative against Jon it's a reality, when somebody is this good you build somebody up and the next thing you do as a fan is you try to tear them down.
"I think overwhelmingly that evil side of the fan is going to come in which is Tyson is going to kick somebody's a**. I'd rather see it be Jon, and Tyson has never been presented with an option so that might change things. So if Dana was presented with that and he had to make a business decision he's going to realise I can still out sell out five or six arenas with Francis, take Jon."
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Jones is currently in training with an eye on an octagon return and will make a switch to the heavyweight division after his successful stint at light-heavyweight. He was set to face Stipe Miocic on his return to action on International Fight Week in July but later revealed it will now be delayed until September.
Fury agreed to fight Ngannou when the pair came face-to-face after his victory at Wembley. The 'Gypsy King' has also already proposed a ruleset for the meeting alongside a date for 2023 in Las Vegas.
Ngannou is increasingly confident of securing victory over Fury and has backed himself to beat anyone in the boxing world. "We have been talking about this going back and forth for like the past two years and I think we are close to getting this on," Ngannou told BT Sport. "I think I can beat everybody, it won't be an easy fight in the boxing world but I can beat anybody."
