January 24, 2022

  • Marc RaimondiESPN Staff Writer

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jon Jones was going to be in omnipresence at UFC 270 on Saturday night. He'd be in that location, likely close to the Octagon, to watch the heavyweight title unification fight between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane, and the winner would probable be his next opponent.

That was the plan a week prior to the outcome, those close to him told ESPN. Simply in the unpredictable earth of arguably the greatest MMA fighter to always live, things practice not e'er go every bit planned.

"Correct at present, I'grand on a perfect preparation routine, don't wanna disturb it for anything," Jones told ESPN'due south Brett Okamoto in a text message a few days out from UFC 270. "No need to flatter these big boys, excited to get the task done when it'due south time."

Instead, Jones took to Twitter on Sabbatum to address the fight -- which he publicly deemed lackluster -- and Ngannou, the man who left Honda Center as the UFC undisputed champion later a unanimous decision victory.

"At the end of the day, I'grand f---ing them both up," Jones tweeted and later deleted.

Jones, the former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion, likewise teased retirement and took a shot at Gane, writing he loves how "everyone gets and then impressed with the new guy."

"If this is the Apex of heavyweight fighting, I'm excited well-nigh it," Jones tweeted. "Got some more records to intermission."

Former Golden Male child boxing CEO Richard Schaefer, who is advising Jones in his negotiations with the UFC, is too very confident in Jones' chances of chirapsia either Ngannou or Gane.

"The way [Jones] went well-nigh preparing to move up to heavyweight is unheard of in UFC history," Schaefer told ESPN. "He is not chasing a bigger payday and moving upwardly. No. He prepared mentally and physically to exist heavyweight champion. It volition be the biggest night in UFC history."

As always seems to be the case with Jones, this won't be a directly path to a satisfying ending. Ngannou said he tore his correct MCL and damaged his ACL three weeks before fighting Gane. He believes he needs surgery. On height of that, Ngannou is in the middle of a very messy, and very public, contract impasse with the UFC.

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Why is a potential Ngannou-Jones matchup and so enticing?

Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping both break downwards what they would be excited for if Francis Ngannou potentially faces Jon Jones in a heavyweight title fight.

Dana White, the UFC president, didn't put the belt on Ngannou subsequently the fight, and did not attend the postfight press conference, both of which have become customary for White on major fight nights. Ngannou would accept been a complimentary agent had he lost. But by retaining the title, the UFC's champions clause kicks in, pregnant Ngannou will still be nether contract for the span of 3 fights or one twelvemonth, whichever comes earliest.

Ngannou has vowed to never fight once again on his current contract and has been open up about his want to venture into boxing. It's very possible this could be the concluding fourth dimension we see Ngannou in the Octagon every bit he heads into surgery and potential gratis agency in early 2023.

Ngannou said after his victory over Gane he was "pumped" when he won the title from Stipe Miocic in 2021, considering Jones was pegged equally the side by side challenger. Merely things take gone a bit haywire on multiple fronts.

"Since I won that fight, I never heard about it," Ngannou said. "So, at this point I don't really know what is off the table."

If Ngannou will be out of UFC action for an extended period of time, or possibly for good, Jones could pursue an interim title fight with Gane, or former champ Miocic. Miocic has expressed some interest in a Jones fight. Derrick Lewis could also put himself back in the mix with a win over Tai Tuivasa on February. 12 at UFC 271.

Jones and his team fully expect to get the next championship shot after Ngannou vs. Gane.

"We just have to meet how it plays out in the side by side few weeks," Schaefer said.

Jones, 34, has not fought since Feb 2020, a shut unanimous determination win over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 to retain the UFC light heavyweight championship. In August 2020, Jones vacated the light heavyweight chugalug with an centre toward moving upward to heavyweight and going after that title.

Jones was supposed to exist next upwardly for the winner of the title fight between Ngannou and Miocic at UFC 260 terminal March. In grooming for the move, Jones bulked upward significantly. In September, he said he was 255 pounds and targeting 270 for his heavyweight debut (he would so have to cut to 265 to brand the heavyweight title limit). Those numbers are a far cry from 205 pounds, where Jones has spent the duration of his career.

Merely Jones butted heads both publicly and privately with the UFC during contract talks after Ngannou became champ. Jones tweeted that an offering in the $eight million to $x million range would exist "way likewise low for a fight of this magnitude."

Terminal May, Jones hired Schaefer every bit his adviser. Schaefer, who now leads the boxing organisation Probellum, has had a friendly relationship with White for years and came into the fold confident he could go a deal done.

The UFC, however, went in a different direction that didn't even include Ngannou, after he informed them he would not be ready in time for that date on a short turnaround due to a previously scheduled trip dorsum to his habitation in Cameroon.

The promotion booked Gane against Lewis for the interim title at UFC 265 last August, a fight that Gane won to set up a title unification bout with Ngannou, his former teammate at MMA Factory in Paris. The rich backstory between the two men, including Ngannou's ongoing feud with Gane's passenger vehicle (and Ngannou's onetime mentor) Fernand Lopez, made it like shooting fish in a barrel for the UFC to go along Jones in limbo for some other title fight.

Meanwhile, just hours later he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame for his epic 2013 fight with Alexander Gustafsson, Jones was arrested Sept. 24 in Las Vegas for felony tampering with a vehicle and misdemeanor domestic battery. Jones took a nolo contendere plea last month and got off without jail time. It was the latest in a string of outside-the-cage issues for the legendary fighter that include a felony hit-and-run charge, several DUI arrests and ii failed drug tests.

The September arrest got Jones suspended from his JacksonWink MMA gym in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he has spent his entire, fourteen-year UFC career. Although JacksonWink coaches Greg Jackson and Brandon Gibson yet intend to coach him, Jones has likewise started to visit Fight Prepare in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he is working with former UFC double champion Henry Cejudo and coaches Eric Albarracin and Eddie Cha. Jones' next preparation military camp could be carve up betwixt Albuquerque and Scottsdale.

"He has this God-given ability that'south second to none," Cejudo told ESPN. "Merely the crazy thing about Jon Jones and him coming out here and seeing what nosotros have to offering him, in that location'due south and so much room for him to grow nonetheless. It's a trip. I most feel like he's become a world gnaw but based on ability. Just based on his attributes and things similar that -- he'southward a winner."

Jones (26-1, ane NC) is arguably the greatest UFC champion ever, in whatsoever division. He held the UFC light heavyweight title on and off for nearly a decade, just losing it due to exterior-the-muzzle issues. Jones' only loss came in 2009 via disqualification in a fight against Matt Hamill that he was absolutely dominating.

The New York native's résumé is unmatched. He's unbeaten in a UFC record xviii directly fights, is tied for the near title defenses in UFC history with Demetrious Johnson with 11 and has the most wins ever in UFC title fights with fourteen. Jones owns wins over former or electric current UFC champions Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Glover Teixeira and Daniel Cormier.

With all of those accolades and his popularity, Jones seems like a no-brainer for the next UFC heavyweight title shot, if the two sides can come to an agreement. If a deal with Ngannou tin be brokered, Ngannou vs. Jones would be i of the biggest pay-per-view principal events of the yr and, with the right promotional efforts, one of the summit ones ever.

But once again, when it comes to Jones, things don't ever become exactly every bit planned. There are still more questions nearly the future of the heavyweight division, fifty-fifty subsequently Ngannou's win over Gane, and they come up directly from the top contumely at UFC.

"I don't feel confident in saying Jon Jones is adjacent and not considering I think he's unreliable," White told Okamoto last week. "Information technology's because I honestly don't know what Jon Jones wants to do adjacent. I call up Jon is gonna scout this fight and he'll decide maybe he doesn't fight at heavyweight. Maybe he goes back and tries to regain the light heavyweight championship. I honestly don't know the answer to that question."