Jon Jones on Francis Ngannou, Ciryl Gane After UFC 270: 'I'm F--king Them Both Up'
January 23, 2022
Amid speculation that he could move up to heavyweight, Jon Jones chimed in on his thoughts about Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane after their showdown at UFC 270 on Saturday night.
In a since-deleted post on Twitter, Jones wrote, "At the end of the day, I'm f--king them both up."
Ngannou defeated Gane by unanimous decision on Saturday night to win the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship.
There has been talk for a long time about Jones potentially fighting at heavyweight after dominating the light heavyweight division for years. The only loss of his career came via disqualification for use of illegal elbows against Matt Hamill in a 2009 fight he was otherwise dominating.
UFC President Dana White told ESPN (h/t MMAFighting.com) in 2015 that Jones was "definitely" planning on fighting at heavyweight.
Seven years later, Jones has yet to compete in any division other than light heavyweight. White did attempt to set up a match between Bones and Ngannou in 2020, but he told reporters talks broke down because Jones was seeking a massive payout in line with what Deontay Wilder was paid to fight Tyson Fury in a boxing match.
"I'll quote him and what he had said to my lawyer. He told my lawyer he wants what Deontay Wilder was paid (for his most recent fight)," White said. "I think it was $30 million, was what Deontay Wilder was paid."
Ngannou no longer sounds like he's interested in a fight with Jones.
"No, I'm done with that fight," he told reporters following Saturday's event. "I've been waiting for that fight for so long. After Stipe [Miocic], it was supposed to be Jon Jones, and that never happened. I don't know why. So I moved on."
Jones announced in August 2020 he vacated the UFC light heavyweight title. The 34-year-old hasn't fought since February 2020 when he defeated Dominick Reyes at UFC 247.