Francis Ngannou Reportedly Projected To Fight In December

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is progressing well after his surgery.

That’s at least according to his head coach Eric Nicksick. Nicksick said in a recent interview with MMA Fighting that Ngannou already has a targeted matchup.

“The fight that makes the most sense is obviously Jon Jones,” Nicksick said.

“That’s the fight we all want…

“If we can’t do it in December and depending on the way the UFC schedule plays out, maybe [it can happen] in January or February, somewhere in that timeline.”

Ngannou has not fought since winning a comeback victory against former interim champion Ciryl Gane in January.

Some fans thought that Gane was going to do enough to overthrow Ngannou, but the Cameroonian fighter put his wrestling skills on display, which was enough for his unanimous decision win.

After the fight, it was announced that Ngannou had fought through knee injuries and has been rehabbing from the surgery ever since.

Leading up to the fight with Gane, Ngannou made it clear that he was unhappy with his contract with the UFC, and was demanding changes, otherwise he’d fight elsewhere.

It’s unclear whether Ngannou has been met with those terms.

But Nicksick is anticipating that his fighter returns to the UFC octagon for Jones.

“Jon hasn’t fought in so long, Stipe hasn’t fought since Francis beat him, so that will be two years for Stipe in March, so might as well wait another month for the super fight and the fight to make. Honestly, for me, I’d love the Stipe fight again, or the Jones fight, but if I had my choice between the two, obviously I want to compete against the best to ever do it, in my opinion, and that’s Jon Jones,” he said.