Ngannou coach ‘optimistic’ about Jon Jones bout
Francis Ngannou’s head coach hasn’t given up hope of one day pitting his fighter against Jon Jones.
Jones, the one that succeeded Francis Ngannou as the UFC’s heavyweight champion after he left the corporate to ink a wide money deal with the PFL upon the expiration of his contract with the Las Vegas-primarily based totally totally promotion, stay on the shelf after sustaining a pectoral damage final Three hundred and sixty five days in preparation for title defence against old champ Stipe Miocic.
The Jones-Miocic fight is reportedly position to blueprint terminate place this coming November in Contemporary York City — and despite unconfirmed rumours that Jones would possibly perchance well opt to retire afterwards — Xtreme Couture coach Eric Nicksick, who has guided much of Ngannou’s fight sports occupation, says that they haven’t given up hope of being paired with Jones in what would possibly perchance well be one of basically the most anticipated heavyweight fights in mixed martial arts history.
“How can you be in this place and no longer wish to strive and fight the correct to ever enact it, moral?” Nicksick told MMA Junkie. “And again, I’ve stated this time and time again, I deem Jon is the correct to ever enact it, and must you’re a competitor, how enact you no longer wish to strive and compete against arguably the correct to ever enact it?”
He added: “That is, certain — you would prefer must gameplan, you would prefer must compete, you would prefer must strive and put your perfect camp forward and your perfect fighter, and that’s obviously Francis. Yeah, that’s positively one thing I would soundless desire to occupy that probability as a plot to enact.”
There are obvious hurdles that would possibly perchance perchance occupy to be cleared for any Ngannou-Jones bout to become a actuality, specifically the UFC’s overall reluctance to injurious-promote. That stated, the influx of Saudi cash into fight sports, and in particular boxing, has ended in renewed optimism that about a of the hardest-to-arrange fights will occupy a pathway.
“I’m very optimistic through those items and I deem money talks, you understand, and you procure the moral folks within the relieve of you,” Nicksick stated. “Obviously we have got a right relationship with Saudi, and I do know Dana and UFC are working well with Saudi, so money talks. No disrespect to Dana, but he has a boss to boot. So, somebody tells, ‘Hello man, right here’s fairly plenty of money. We’re taking this. Area your ego aside.’
“I deem Dana is in a spot where he needs to make the correct fights, and he’s no longer going to let his ego or any previous history blueprint terminate relieve of that. If he feels that Jon Jones is the correct to ever enact it, then fully, put your perfect man forward and affords us the opportunity to watch if we can dethrone that man.”
