Jon Jones might not like to hear this news but the UFC is now trying to make Francis Ngannou defend his belt against Derrick Lewis. The date was supposedly for June 12 but it was too early for the champion’s timeline.
UFC has kicked the tires on Francis Ngannou x Derrick Lewis on June 12, sources say. However the timing doesn’t work for Ngannou (and I don’t blame him; he just won the belt).
Bigger story here, IMO, is, at least for now, they don’t seem keen on waiting around for Jones.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 5, 2021
June is certainly too early for Ngannou since he just fought late March. He needs time to enjoy his win and recover from his training camp and since he is the champion, he has the benefit of being the A-side.
It is also possible that the UFC is putting a bluff against Jones to take the fight. It might force Jones to take the fight rather than price himself out. Jones is certainly losing money if he chooses to wait out and not fight in a lower price but if he thinks his value and risk is worth much more than what the UFC offered, he should definitely wait.
For the possible matchup, Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis has already fought but many may have already forgotten about it and who can blame them? Two of the hardest-hitters collide, it was expected fireworks but what happened was lackluster. There was too lack of action that even the referee reprimanded them to fight more.
No one could argue that Derrick Lewis deserves to fight for the title but fans would want Ngannou vs Jones more. The idea of an all-time great fighting the scariest fighter just makes it more exciting. It might be one of the biggest fights to make right now and the only thing stopping is the pay issue, sadly.
This is not the first time that a UFC fighter is complaining of being underpaid, but there are also times that the fighter is asking too much. Even Dana White has said that Jon Jones might be the greatest fighter he has ever seen and definitely deserves a big number.
What do you guys think? Is Jones asking too much and is ducking Ngannou or is Jones asking a reasonable amount but the UFC is just underpaying his worth?
