When Jon Jones, after a decade of dominance at light heavyweight, decided to move up to heavyweight in 2020, there was one fight everyone wanted to see. Francis Ngannou was the heavyweight champ then, and a fight between the two men at 265 would have been the biggest fight in the entire MMA world. But Jones took three years to bulk up, and by the time he was ready to fight, Ngannou had left the promotion and joined the PFL shortly after. And the matter of their fight seemed close. However, this hasn’t stopped fans from demanding the fight, to which Chael Sonnen has a terse and, as usual, quite funny response.

A Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou fight could only happen if the UFC and the PFL co-promote the event. However, Dana White has completely ruled out any chances of this. The UFC, of course, doesn’t co-promote with anyone and even though the Saudis are quite interested and willing to put up a significant amount of money, the fight is out of the question.

Many fans feel this is a mistake and have criticized Dana White for standing in the way of it. However, Chael Sonnen thinks these demands from fans are ‘stupid’. The UFC analyst took to his YouTube channel and asked fans why the UFC should even make the fight. After all, he pointed out, a Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall has now eclipsed the hype for the Jones-Ngannou fight as the biggest heavyweight bout in the entire sport.

“The discussion comes of making Jon versus Francis and I would just come back to you again and say why would the UFC do that? If you think that they are the ones holding up great sport and great competition why would they do that?… And if you were say ‘So we could all find out who the greatest fighter in the world is,’ like that’s a fun thing to say… [But] do you really believe that?… You’ve been saying it’s Aspinall,” Sonnen said.

In addition, the UFC insider trashed the opinion that the UFC is unwilling to do so because they are scared Jones might lose. He questioned why should the UFC want to promote a fighter (Ngannou) who is not even in the promotion and left on very acrimonious terms. In his signature sarcastic manner, the verbose UFC analyst invited the fans to weigh in and prove him wrong, since he wanted to know what the thought process of ‘stupid’ people calling for the fight was.

“But if you’re the UFC why would you let that happen? Why?… And then moreover what are the reasons that you wouldn’t let it happen? And that one is the one you feel that you can answer- ‘Because they’re [the UFC are] scared because their guy Jon Jones is going to get beat…The idea of promoting somebody that isn’t yours, it’s a very baffling concept… So I’d like to hear from you ‘cuz sometimes it’s interesting to hear from people that are stupid,” he added.

Also, any talks about their fight are currently unviable since both Ngannou and Jones are indisposed and gearing up for blockbuster fights.

Ngannou to make PFL debut as Jones prepares to fight the heavyweight GOAT

Right now, Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones are gearing up for very consequential and important fights. Ngannou, of course, will make his PFL debut against the promotion’s 2023 heavyweight champion and the ever-dangerous Renan Ferreira on October 19. One of the few fighters in the world who can match ‘The Predator’s physicality, the Brazilian is a knockout artist himself and is expected to give Ngannou a run for his money.

On the other hand, Jones is slated to fight former champion Stipe Miocic, which the New Mexico resident is expected to win without much issues. While Miocic is considered the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time, he is 42 and clearly at the end of his career. Interestingly, Miocic’s last fight was against Ngannou three years ago, where the Cameroonian lived up to his fearsome reputation and knocked out the former champ in devastating fashion.

Both Jones and Miocic are expected to retire after the fight. If Jones doesn’t, however, and wins the bout, there is the interim champion Tom Aspinall, who will almost definitely be his next opponent. Or so Dana White has claimed. Despite all of this, many fans are insistent on seeing a Jones-Ngannou fight. However, there is almost no chance of this happening at the moment.

What are your thoughts about the fiasco? Let us know in the comments below.