Jon Jones thinks Francis Ngannou made every demand possible so he could get released from the UFC and avoid fighting him.
After Ngannou became the heavyweight champ and then defended his belt with a decision win over Ciryl Gane, the hope was his next fight would be against Jones. It was the biggest fight to make but negotiations stalled and Ngannou was released.
Since then, Jones has been critical of Ngannou and now took to Twitter to accuse Ngannou of coming up with every demand knowing the UFC wouldn’t do it.
“I highly doubt it, especially after that first performance. Like I said, the dude left for a reason. Came up with every demand and request in the world. He knew that the UFC wasn’t going to bed, he found his way out,” Jones wrote on Twitter.
Of course, some of those demands Jones is alluding to was Ngannou being vocal about health insurance and higher pay for the lower-end fighters. Those demands likely were never going to be met but Ngannou was adamant about those happening.
With Francis Ngannou wanting those demands, the UFC released him and made Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane for the belt which ‘Bones’ won by first-round submission. After the win, Jones took a shot at Ngannou calling him a p***y and before the fight, said Ngannou didn’t believe in himself.
“I don’t think I deserve any criticism. I’m here, I’m here. Francis has the opportunity to face me and he opted out of the opportunity. If anyone should be criticized, it is Francis Ngannou. If I’m correct, he was offered the biggest contract in heavyweight history. He had the opportunity to be the guy to dethrone me,” Jones said to RMC Sport.
“He didn’t believe in himself, Francis didn’t believe in himself, he wasn’t willing to gamble on himself,” Jon Jones added. “I felt bad for the fans, I know that would’ve been a massive fight for the fans and people all around the world would’ve loved to see that event. I’m not counting it out, I could see Francis going and fighting in boxing and doing whatever he is going to do. I think he is always going to be welcomed back to the UFC. That is always going to be a big, big fight and I will be ready for him.”
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