Jon Jones still waiting on Francis Ngannou fight, not interested in Stipe Miocic
Jon Jones announced his intentions to move to heavyweight early last year but has yet to make that debut. He is taking his time to put on the required amount of weight so that he can be successful in the heaviest weight class. It seems that he is ready now, but the logistics haven’t been right. Jones wants a title shot against champion Francis Ngannou, and he wants to be paid accordingly for this bout. Negotiations have stalled and Ngannou is looking at other options at this point, but not Jones. He will not be taking a number one contender fight against Stipe Miocic or anyone else.
“Don’t get excited people, I’m not fighting Stipe,” Jones wrote in Tweets that were later deleted. “I’m not here to fight Stipe but I will defend my belt against him no problem. I’m looking for the biggest draw and I’m willing to wait. 33 years old in a better athlete right now than I’ve ever been before. I’m just going to keep training my ass off.”
In the process of negotiating for this huge potential fight with Ngannou, Jones and his management team have parted ways. The UFC president Dana White was claiming that Jones was looking for 30 million dollars for the title fight, to which Jones refutes. Jones is currently looking for new representation, but the UFC could be moving on without him.
“The good news is I have two really big meetings with some awesome attorneys and sports agents next week. Feel like my professionalism is about to go up a notch,” Jones wrote on Twitter.
Ngannou has been in talks to face Derrick Lewis in a rematch, this time for the title. Ngannou lost to Lewis back in July of 2018. Now that Ngannou is the champ, and has won five in a row since then, his chances of evening out the score against Lewis are good. That bout is being targeted for this summer. Jon Jones last fought in February of last year. If he decides to wait and face the winner of Ngannou and Lewis, it will be one of the longest non-suspension layoffs of his career.
