Jan 24, 2022

  • Marc RaimondiESPN Staff Writer

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jon Jones was going to be in attendance at UFC 270 on Saturday night. He'd exist at that place, likely shut to the Octagon, to lookout the heavyweight title unification fight between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane, and the winner would likely be his adjacent opponent.

That was the programme a week prior to the event, those close to him told ESPN. Simply in the unpredictable world of arguably the greatest MMA fighter to always live, things do not always go every bit planned.

"Right now, I'm on a perfect preparation routine, don't wanna disturb it for anything," Jones told ESPN's Brett Okamoto in a text message a few days out from UFC 270. "No demand to flatter these large boys, excited to get the job done when it's fourth dimension."

Instead, Jones took to Twitter on Saturday to address the fight -- which he publicly deemed lackluster -- and Ngannou, the homo who left Honda Center as the UFC undisputed champion after a unanimous decision victory.

"At the finish of the day, I'yard f---ing them both upwardly," Jones tweeted and later deleted.

Jones, the quondam longtime UFC low-cal heavyweight champion, besides teased retirement and took a shot at Gane, writing he loves how "everyone gets so impressed with the new guy."

"If this is the Apex of heavyweight fighting, I'm excited nearly information technology," Jones tweeted. "Got some more records to break."

Onetime Golden Boy battle CEO Richard Schaefer, who is advising Jones in his negotiations with the UFC, is too very confident in Jones' chances of beating either Ngannou or Gane.

"The way [Jones] went about preparing to motility up to heavyweight is unheard of in UFC history," Schaefer told ESPN. "He is non chasing a bigger payday and moving upward. No. He prepared mentally and physically to be heavyweight champion. It volition be the biggest dark in UFC history."

As always seems to be the instance with Jones, this won't exist a straight path to a satisfying ending. Ngannou said he tore his right MCL and damaged his ACL three weeks earlier fighting Gane. He believes he needs surgery. On top of that, Ngannou is in the eye of a very messy, and very public, contract impasse with the UFC.

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Jon Jones eyeing 2022 return

Jon Jones expects to render to the UFC in the 2nd quarter of 2022 and would like to face the winner of Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane.

Dana White, the UFC president, didn't put the belt on Ngannou after the fight, and did not attend the postfight press conference, both of which have become customary for White on major fight nights. Ngannou would have been a complimentary agent had he lost. Just by retaining the title, the UFC's champions clause kicks in, significant Ngannou volition yet be under contract for the span of 3 fights or one twelvemonth, whichever comes earliest.

Ngannou has vowed to never fight again on his electric current contract and has been open up well-nigh his want to venture into boxing. Information technology's very possible this could exist the concluding fourth dimension we see Ngannou in the Octagon as he heads into surgery and potential free agency in early 2023.

Ngannou said later his victory over Gane he was "pumped" when he won the title from Stipe Miocic in 2021, considering Jones was pegged as the next challenger. But things have gone a bit haywire on multiple fronts.

"Since I won that fight, I never heard about it," Ngannou said. "So, at this signal I don't really know what is off the tabular array."

If Ngannou will be out of UFC action for an extended period of fourth dimension, or perhaps for good, Jones could pursue an interim title fight with Gane, or old gnaw Miocic. Miocic has expressed some interest in a Jones fight. Derrick Lewis could also put himself back in the mix with a win over Tai Tuivasa on Feb. 12 at UFC 271.

Jones and his squad fully await to get the next title shot subsequently Ngannou vs. Gane.

"We just have to see how it plays out in the side by side few weeks," Schaefer said.

Jones, 34, has not fought since February 2020, a shut unanimous determination win over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 to retain the UFC light heavyweight title. In August 2020, Jones vacated the light heavyweight belt with an eye toward moving upward to heavyweight and going after that title.

Jones was supposed to exist next upwards for the winner of the championship fight between Ngannou and Miocic at UFC 260 last March. In preparation for the move, Jones bulked up significantly. In September, he said he was 255 pounds and targeting 270 for his heavyweight debut (he would then have to cutting to 265 to make the heavyweight title limit). Those numbers are a far cry from 205 pounds, where Jones has spent the duration of his career.

But Jones butted heads both publicly and privately with the UFC during contract talks afterwards Ngannou became champ. Jones tweeted that an offer in the $8 million to $10 million range would be "manner too depression for a fight of this magnitude."

Terminal May, Jones hired Schaefer as his adviser. Schaefer, who at present leads the boxing system Probellum, has had a friendly relationship with White for years and came into the fold confident he could get a bargain done.

The UFC, yet, went in a different direction that didn't fifty-fifty include Ngannou, after he informed them he would not exist fix in time for that date on a brusque turnaround due to a previously scheduled trip back to his abode in Cameroon.

The promotion booked Gane confronting Lewis for the interim title at UFC 265 final Baronial, a fight that Gane won to set a title unification bout with Ngannou, his former teammate at MMA Factory in Paris. The rich backstory between the two men, including Ngannou's ongoing feud with Gane's jitney (and Ngannou'due south former mentor) Fernand Lopez, made information technology easy for the UFC to keep Jones in limbo for some other title fight.

Meanwhile, simply hours after he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame for his epic 2013 fight with Alexander Gustafsson, Jones was arrested Sept. 24 in Las Vegas for felony tampering with a vehicle and misdemeanor domestic battery. Jones took a nolo contendere plea final month and got off without jail time. It was the latest in a string of outside-the-cage issues for the legendary fighter that include a felony hitting-and-run accuse, several DUI arrests and two failed drug tests.

The September arrest got Jones suspended from his JacksonWink MMA gym in Albuquerque, New United mexican states, where he has spent his entire, 14-year UFC career. Although JacksonWink coaches Greg Jackson and Brandon Gibson still intend to coach him, Jones has also started to visit Fight Set up in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he is working with quondam UFC double champion Henry Cejudo and coaches Eric Albarracin and Eddie Cha. Jones' side by side grooming camp could exist split betwixt Albuquerque and Scottsdale.

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Why is a potential Ngannou-Jones matchup so enticing?

Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping both suspension downwardly what they would exist excited for if Francis Ngannou potentially faces Jon Jones in a heavyweight title fight.

"He has this God-given ability that's second to none," Cejudo told ESPN. "But the crazy affair about Jon Jones and him coming out hither and seeing what we have to offer him, there's and then much room for him to abound still. Information technology'south a trip. I almost feel like he'south become a world champ merely based on power. Only based on his attributes and things like that -- he's a winner."

Jones (26-ane, one NC) is arguably the greatest UFC champion ever, in any partition. He held the UFC light heavyweight championship on and off for about a decade, only losing it due to outside-the-muzzle issues. Jones' just loss came in 2009 via disqualification in a fight against Matt Hamill that he was absolutely dominating.

The New York native's résumé is unmatched. He's unbeaten in a UFC record eighteen directly fights, is tied for the virtually title defenses in UFC history with Demetrious Johnson with xi and has the near wins ever in UFC title fights with 14. Jones owns wins over onetime or current UFC champions Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Glover Teixeira and Daniel Cormier.

With all of those accolades and his popularity, Jones seems like a no-brainer for the next UFC heavyweight title shot, if the two sides can come to an agreement. If a deal with Ngannou can be brokered, Ngannou vs. Jones would exist one of the biggest pay-per-view main events of the year and, with the right promotional efforts, one of the summit ones always.

But again, when it comes to Jones, things don't e'er go exactly every bit planned. There are even so more than questions near the future of the heavyweight partition, even after Ngannou'southward win over Gane, and they come straight from the top brass at UFC.

"I don't feel confident in saying Jon Jones is adjacent and not because I remember he'due south unreliable," White told Okamoto last calendar week. "Information technology'south considering I honestly don't know what Jon Jones wants to exercise next. I think Jon is gonna sentinel this fight and he'll determine peradventure he doesn't fight at heavyweight. Perhaps he goes back and tries to regain the calorie-free heavyweight championship. I honestly don't know the answer to that question."