Dana White Says Francis Ngannou’s Absence Could Mean Interim Title Fight For Jon Jones

Francis Ngannou beat Stipe Miocic for the UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 260 earlier last year. After that, a lot of drama unfolded as he never had the chance to fight Jon Jones. Ngannou even thought the UFC didn’t want him to square off against Jon Jones.

Jon Jones is considered one of the best fighters in the history of the UFC for many fans. Since early last year, Jones had made it his life’s mission to go after Francis Ngannou’s UFC Heavyweight Championship. Jones has also been on a mission to get paid.

For the past few months, Jon Jones has made it clear that he wants to return to the Octagon this year and even previously revealed that he plans on becoming a champion this year.

While speaking with ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto, UFC President Dana White believes that Jon Jones could return to the UFC this year. He then added that Jones could fight for the interim Heavyweight title if Francis Ngannou is absent for the rest of the year due to knee surgery.

“No, until we know what Francis [Ngannou] is going to do or what’s going to happen. But, I mean if that’s the case, he ends up sitting out for a year, yeah, Jon [Jones] could come right in and fight for the title.”

Tito Ortiz also hoped that Francis Ngannou is not erased from UFC history. Ngannou’s current contract with the UFC will expire in December of this year and it is not known whether he will re-sign with the company at this point in time either. We will have to wait and see if Jon Jones will fight for the interim Heavyweight title or not.

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