UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has urged the promotion to ‘figure out a way’ to book Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou.
Former 205-pound king Jon Jones made his comeback against Ciryl Gane in the headlining bout of UFC 285 this past Saturday. Having been a traditional light heavyweight, he was moving up a division to fight for the vacant title. Jones turned in a dominant performance and needed just over two minutes to dispatch Gane with a submission. After becoming the new heavyweight champion, Jones called out Stipe Miocic for his next bout.
Aljamain Sterling urges UFC to book Jon Jones v Francis Ngannou
In a recent video uploaded on his YouTube channel, Aljamain Sterling demanded the UFC make the fight between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou a reality. He used Jones’ argument of Daniel Cormier not being a true champion against him as he did not beat Ngannou to win the belt.
“My biggest thing I want to see is UFC figures out a way to make Jon Jones versus Francis Ngannou or should I say Ngannou vs Jones because technically Ngannou is, I don’t want to say the real champion but he is still the real champ. If we’re going by what Jones said to ‘DC,’ then the same thing kind of applies to him. You gotta keep the same energy. It’s no disrespect to Jon. Jon is Jon. I’m not saying Jon or Francis are scared.
“I just hope the UFC does what the fans want and we don’t get another Fedor Emelianenko situation where he never got to fight Brock Lesnar and we never got to see the biggest, baddest dudes on the planet get to go at it.”
“I don’t want to see these guys fight when they’re both 42 and 43. I want to see it now within the next year. That would be nice.”
Sterling believes it’ll happen if the demand is high enough
During the UFC 285 post-fight presser, company president Dana White shut the door on the possibility of Ngannou’s return. However, Sterling believes there’s still hope if the demand is high enough.
“I think if enough people ask for it, if the demand is high enough, and obviously comes down to Dana wants what Dana wants and it’s going to have to be his way. There can be some middle ground but it’s going to have to tip in the favor of the UFC for them to make it happen. There’s some room for that to happen whether Francis wants to budge or not. Maybe do a one-off deal.”
“It would be a disservice to our generation and to the sport if these two guys who the UFC always prides their model on, you get the fight the fans want to see. This is the fight the fans want to see and if you guys blow it, we’re going to be pretty damn upset and you can’t keep saying you give fans the fights they want because you’re not doing that.”
‘The Predator’ weighed in with a cheeky response to Jones’ crowning moment, mocking him for not being the real champion. While he doesn’t expect the fight to happen due to Jones’ extended contract with the UFC, it remains to be seen where his future lies.
