Chael Sonnen To UFC: Francis Ngannou Vs. Jon Jones Is ‘Biggest Fight’ To Make

A UFC heavyweight title fight between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones is the matchup to make. 

That’s at least according to Chael Sonnen, who said described it as one of the “biggest” fights to make on his YouTube channel. 

“Jon Jones vs. Francis, I think, is the biggest fight you can put on in our industry,” Sonnen said. “It’s also going to be the first fight where [two fighters] have four years of inactivity between the two of them. It’s a very peculiar situation.” 

Jones has not competed in the octagon since scoring a controversial unanimous decision against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February 2020. It was the last time he defended his long-held light heavyweight title. 

But while he’s been away, Jones has noticed his fans and the rest of the MMA community that he plans to make a debut in the heavyweight division. 

He’s posted photos on social media to showcase his weight gains. He’s been rumored to fight against either former champion Stipe Miocic or current champion Ngannou, but neither have been set in stone. 

Ngannou, meanwhile, has been rehabbing from a knee injury that he sustained weeks ahead of his first title defense against Ciryl Gane in January 2022. He won the fight, but has not competed since then. 

In the midst of his injury, Ngannou has also had woes with the UFC and is renegotiating his contract with the promotion. But, earlier last month, Ngannou seemed to have hinted that he may already be a free agent. 

But Sonnen believes that Ngannou will still re-sign with the UFC. 

“Francis appears to be safe in that he hasn’t been stripped, [and if he has, it] hasn’t come out yet,” Sonnen explained.  

“We’ve heard the rumor that Jones and Stipe were going to fight for an interim championship. We’ve heard a rumor that Jones and Curtis were going to fight, but that rumor went right away, but it happened, and attached to that fight was going to be an interim championship. If that were true, that would protect Francis — he’s only got so much time to get his contract worked out and his knee healed up. 

“I’m just sharing with you that if he comes back and is still undisputed champion, he’s in a pretty good spot, and in fact it would be a title fight because he’s the one bringing the title. But if he gets stripped, all bets are off.”