“That’s a scary joker,” Jon Jones was ‘kind of’ relieved Francis Ngannou was replaced by Ciryl Gane at heavyweight return

Jon Jones returned to the UFC right after Francis Ngannou left. Jones jokes about being somewhat relieved of not fighting the Cameroonian

“That’s a scary joker,” Jon Jones was ‘kind of’ relieved Francis Ngannou was replaced by Ciryl Gane at heavyweight return

Jon Jones jokes about being relieved on facing Ciryl Gane and not Francis Ngannou (Image Courtesy- Imago)

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been eyeing a fight with former champion Francis Ngannou for a long time. Jones was on a three-year hiatus from the UFC and returned to the heavyweight division. Jones recently appeared on the Overdogs podcast, where he spoke about various things, including his life, return to heavyweight, and upcoming fights.

He spoke on his title fight against Ciryl Gane and joked about how he felt a relief to fight the Frenchman instead of Ngannou. Jones spoke on how Ngannou left the UFC when he had just returned. Jones joked about it, saying, “Knowing that I was fighting Gane over Ngannou was kinda nice, Francis is a scary joker.” Ngannou was the biggest threat to Jones’s undefeated record in the UFC.

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Jones defended his case against fans, saying that he returned only when Ngannou left. He made sure to mention that Ngannou could have chosen him as his last fight before leaving the UFC. Ngannou left the UFC and joined PFL due to contract issues with the company. Jones returned at UFC 285 and submitted Gane in the first round, completing his much-anticipated return,

It is very rare that fans see Jones appear on a podcast for a long period of time and get candid. Fans believe they could listen to Jones talk about his fights and experiences all day. It remains to be seen if Jones appears on podcasts in the future.

Related: “As a black man…” Jon Jones gets real about Israel Adesanya’s ‘N-word’ rant against Dricus Du Plessis

Francis Ngannou’s team felt that Jon Jones was nervous during heated face-off

Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones faced off
Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones faced off (Image Courtesy- MMA Fighting)

Both Ngannou and Jones have been calling out each other for a very long time. The two heavyweights finally faced off against each other at PFL 5 and sized each other up. The two had a friendly conversation about their ability to defeat each other in the Octagon. Ngannou’s agent, Marquel Martin, spoke on the interaction in a recent interview.

Martin believes that even though Jones is not scared of anyone, he does realize that Ngannou is “a different beast”. Martin also revealed that he himself was a huge Jon Jones fan and could see Jones have a different body language against Ngannou. He even discussed it with Ngannou after the face-off, and the “Predator,” too, felt that Bones was a bit nervous during the face-off.

Despite the obstacles, there is still a lot of interest in a fight between Jones and Ngannou. If the two fighters can ever agree to terms, it would be one of the biggest fights in UFC history. Fans will look forward to seeing the two heavyweights square in a potential match in the future.

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