“Dana said Jon didn’t want to fight Francis” – UFC veteran reveals White’s claim about Jones vs. Ngannou superfight

What single fight in the UFC could have shaken the foundations of the promotion? Well, it's the fight between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones. This fight could have sent the UFC rankings soaring, but fate had other plans as Ngannou left the promotion citing reasons such as a strict contract. There were talks of them fighting again in 2023, but when Ngannou left the promotion, Jon Jones stepped up to the top as he defeated Ciryl Gane to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. Well, both fighters had initial issues with their fight, but according to Dana White, the problem was only with “The Predator.”

In a recent press conference at the Dana White Contender Series, the UFC boss stated that all the blame lies with Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones never really had a problem fighting “The Predator”. However, this statement by the UFC boss was doubted by one of his fighters. Who was it and what did he say? Let's find out.

UFC veteran exposes Dana White’s propaganda against Francis Ngannou

Social media was awash with videos of Dana White claiming that the main reason Jon Jones never fought Francis Ngannou was because of himself. Before this revelation, the public believed that the two fighters were rather hesitant to fight each other and when everything was set, Ngannou left the promotion without thinking twice. However, according to the UFC boss, this does not seem to be the reality.

In his interview with the media, White stated: “The fight against [Francis Ngannou] didn't happen and I'll tell you what, it wasn't because of Jon Jones. He wanted Francis. You saw what happened to Ciryl Gane. He'll tell you like he told us, that he would do the same thing to Francis Ngannou. He wanted this fight so bad. You can't force people to fight and we can't force Francis to fight.”

Is this statement from the UFC boss true? Well, according to UFC veteran Derek Brunson, that could be debatable. The former UFC fighter added a comment to MMA Fighting's Instagram post, exposing Dana White. “I swear I thought Dana said Jon didn't want to fight Francis when he was in the UFC. Am I crazy?” wrote Brunson.

With his statement, Dana White made sure to get a lot of attention from the MMA world. Jon Jones is currently on hiatus and is expected to return to the Octagon in November to fight Stipe Miocic. Regardless, White made his statement, but what does Ngannou think of the back and forth? Let's find out.

“The Predator” claims he never avoided Jon Jones

Fighting Jon ͏͏͏Jon͏es͏͏͏ is not an easy task, but for ͏F͏͏ra͏nci͏s͏ it was a dream to fight and defeat on͏es ͏͏in his own field. ͏U͏n͏like Dana ͏W͏͏hite, who ͏bla͏me͏͏d͏͏ Ngannou͏ for ͏͏the fight didn't happen, “The ͏P͏red͏͏a͏͏͏tor” has said that he and Jones were going to deny each other,͏͏ but the promo never actually booed their clash.͏͏

“First of all, Jon Jones wasn't there when I was there. Even three years before, we were negotiating. I asked for this fight after I fought Jairzinho Rozenstruik. I pushed so hard for Jon Jones because I knew the UFC would win it. [Daniel Cormier] and Stipe [Miocic] 3, the trilogy of Stipe and DC. So I wanted the fight with Jon Jones, but they never brought up that conversation. They used it to paint the story for both sides,” Ngannou said last year in an interview with the podcast “The Last Stand.”

Well, we may not know the truth, but what do you think about the whole fiasco? Do you think there could be a fight between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.