Jon Jones will fight Ciryl Gane for the UFC heavyweight title in March after Francis Ngannou vacated his belt.
The UFC superstar has not fought since retaining his title at light heavyweight in February 2020 against Dominick Reyes, before taking an extended break away from the octagon. It has been in the pipeline that 'Bones' returns at heavyweight for over a year, but a fight has yet to materialise despite talks being held for an immediate title shot against Ngannou.
On Saturday, a poster was leaked that showed Jones matched up with Gane on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with Ngannou's title on the line. And UFC president Dana White has confirmed the news in his latest press conference and explained why the champion felt he needed to move on and vacate his crown.
“This is for the official heavyweight title,” White said about Jones vs Gane when also updating on Ngannou's future. “We offered a deal to Francis that would’ve made him the highest paid heavyweight in the history of the company, more than Lesnar, more than everybody. And he turned the deal down.
“I think Francis is at a place right now, where he doesn’t want to take a risk,” White said about Ngannou. “He feels like he can fight lesser opponents and make more money. The guy weighs over 300 lbs, just had knee surgery, hasn’t had a real training camp. I think that probably has a lot to do with it."
Gane comes into the fight as the leading contender after ousting Tai Tuivasa in emphatic style following his devastating defeat to champion Ngannou last January. He will come up against one of the pound-for-pound greats in Jones, who has had two separate title reigns at 205lb and will now search to become a two-weight king.
Who wins - Jon Jones or Cyril Gane? Let us know in the comments section below
Jones has just two blemishes on his record which are a disqualification from his fight with Matt Hamill in 2010, and a no contest declared for his 2017 meeting with Daniel Cormier after a failed drug test. It remains to be seen whether he can make the ultimate leap to the top division, but Jones has shown off a new ripped and much larger physique ahead of his potential return.
It was understood that negotiations were underway for him to face Ngannou last year but the fight stalled after he was understood to have demanded $30 million. However it will now be Gane that will step up to the plate, and former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo believes he needs to take risks to dethrone Jones as a leading fighter.
"Jon Jones knows how to win, the only person that can really counter that is a guy that takes risks," Cejudo told The Schmo. "That's the only way you're going to beat him. He's the best competitor right now in the UFC, pound-for-pound any division Jon Jones is the greatest of all time. he's going to cement that even more so when he wins the heavyweight title."
