- Michael Bisping gave Francis Ngannou some props for beating Jon Jones in trash-talking
- “The Count” believes Ngannou vs. Jones will never happen
Michael Bisping was so thrilled with Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones’ first face-to-face encounter at PFL 5 that he decided to recap the epic moment alongside his co-podcast host Anthony Smith. Upon listening and scrutinizing the pair’s verbal exchange, “The Count” reckoned Ngannou got the better of Jones on that one.
10-9 in favor of Francis
After replaying the clip on his Bisping and Smith’s BYM podcast, Bisping said he was in awe of the way Ngannou shot back at Jones’ trash talk, especially when “Bones” said that he was gone for a long time because he needed to gain weigh to “kick his a**” and “The Predator” responded with “That took you three years?”
“They were talking back and forth and it was a very polite conversation but it was very passive aggressive… it made me want to see the fight,” Bisping said. “… I think that’s a 10-9 to Francis there. I know we all love watching John fight and I know you [Anthony Smith] don’t so much, but you know that’s a 10-9 to Francis.”
Unlikely to happen, Though
As much as he is excited to see Ngannou and Jones take on each other, Bisping is not convinced that the fight will ever take place. The way the former UFC middleweight champion sees it, “The Predator” seemed laser-focused on boxing and the PFL but regardless if he kept winning or not, he is going to retire.
“[It’s] never gonna happen though, we’re never going to see that fight ever,” Bisping speculated. “I don’t think so, I mean Dana said he’ll never have him [Ngannou] back that doesn’t necessarily mean he will never fight in the UFC but I think with his age, with the deal that he’s got at the PFL, the opportunity to box, who knows? Maybe he continues winning fights and retires. But even if he has two or three fights, I think you’ll retire, anyway.”
Ngannou has already made it clear that he is still looking forward to facing Jones possibly in a cross-promotional fight in the future. On the other hand, “Bones” declared that he would retire after defending his UFC heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic but would pause it in a heartbeat for a fight with Ngannou.
