After a stunning performance that saw Francis Ngannou take on lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in his professional boxing debut and emerge victorious with a split decision, the UFC heavyweight now finds himself in a position where he can essentially handpick his next opponent. However, one name has remained elusive in the realm of possibilities – Jon Jones.
Ngannou and Jones have circled each other for nearly two years, teasing a potential clash. But due to factors like time off, injuries, and contract negotiations, this highly anticipated showdown never materialized. Ngannou eventually parted ways with the UFC as a free agent to pursue his boxing match with Fury and secure a lucrative deal with the Professional Fighters League (PFL).
While Ngannou’s options are diverse, his head coach, Eric Nicksick, still dreams of the day he can prepare “The Predator” for a battle against arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, Jon Jones. Witness the boxing world champions in action with attractive betting odds from Nextbet.
“In a perfect world, for me, I still want that Jon Jones fight,” Nicksick expressed. “Hell yeah, I do. Just because I want to compete against the best, and I think Jon is the best. I don’t want any more guesses about who is the baddest man on the planet. Let’s run it. Let’s do it.”
However, orchestrating a fight between Ngannou and Jones at this point would necessitate a rare co-promotion between the UFC and the PFL, a move the UFC has been reluctant to pursue outside of the 2017 boxing match between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather.
The UFC’s robust financial standing, marked by record profits and revenue over the past two years, coupled with an upcoming broadcast rights deal, has negated the immediate need for co-promotion. Nevertheless, Nicksick remains hopeful that both organizations can set aside their differences, if only for once, to create the dream fight that has now become even more significant following Ngannou’s remarkable performance against Fury.
“You can make that happen,” Nicksick insisted. “Both sides can make that happen if they really wanted to. Set your egos aside, let’s get Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, let’s give the fans what they want, and let’s pit Jon and Francis against each other to determine the baddest man on the planet.
“I want to compete against the best. I’ve said that time and time again. It’s no disrespect to Jon. I think he’s the best to ever do it, but I want that opportunity to coach against him, and I want that opportunity to beat the guy.”
Francis Ngannou departed the UFC as the heavyweight champion, resulting in a new fight between Jones and Ciryl Gane for the vacant title. Nicksick believes that bringing Ngannou back to face Jones would be a way for the UFC to reap the rewards after losing him in free agency.
“I look at it like this – if you have Shohei Ohtani and let him walk for free, you don’t get anything out of it,” Nicksick explained. “They didn’t get anything back from letting the baddest man on the planet walk away. Nothing. They didn’t go on and put on a superfight. They didn’t do anything. They just let him walk for free. I think now can kind of right that wrong and give yourself the opportunity and cross-promote. Do a PFL-UFC and let’s put the baddest man on the planet up against the other one. Let’s figure it out. Let’s do it at Allegiant Stadium, let’s sell the place out. Let’s sell all these pay-per-view buys.
“Everybody wins at the end of the day. Everybody wins. The fans win. The fighters win. The promoters win. Possibly even the UFC because look at this way, Francis obviously is kind of making them eat their words. He walked away for free, and he’s going out and doing his thing. At the end of the day, that’s what we wanted. We wanted to box and do it under the Zuffa banner and co-promote. I think anything’s possible.”
While it remains to be seen whether the UFC would ever entertain the idea of co-promotion with any entity, especially a rival MMA organization, Nicksick remains hopeful that both sides can come together for the greater good. Get the latest updates from the world of boxing only on Nextbet Sports.
“I think Dana [White] and the UFC are smart businessmen,” Nicksick concluded. “If the business is right, the logistics are right, I think you set your ego aside and just make it happen.”
