Francis Ngannou not as excited about fighting Ciryl Gane over Jon Jones

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou says he is not as excited about fighting interim champ Ciryl Gane over superstar Jon Jones.

Ngannou knocked out former champ Stipe Miocic back at UFC 260 in March to win the heavyweight title. He was then expected to fight Jones in what would have been one of the biggest fights the UFC could make, but the fight fell apart. Jones and the UFC were not able to come to an agreement on a contract and then Ngannou was supposed to fight Derrick Lewis at UFC 265 in August. However, that fight also fell apart when Ngannou and the UFC couldn’t come to an agreement on a new deal, and Gane ended up fighting Lewis on the card and knocked him out to win the interim belt. With Gane now as the interim champ, the plan is for him to fight Ngannou for the belt when the two meet at UFC 270.

Speaking to MMAFighting.com’s The MMA Hour, Ngannou admitted that while the Gane fight is a good one, it doesn’t get him as excited as a potential fight against Jones would.

“Not particularly,” Ngannou said. “But it’s a good fight. You have to be aware of the danger of any fight, so it’s a fight, he’s a good opponent, but not on the level of a Jon Jones fight for example if that’s what you’re asking. It’s not the same thing.”

But while Ngannou still wants to fight Jones, he is unsure if it will even happen anymore now that Jones has been involved in more legal issues as of late.

“At this point, I don’t know much about what will happen in the future,” Ngannou said. “I don’t stress about that. What will happen will happen. I wish that fight will happen, but I’m not sure about it anymore. It will be okay.”

Are you more excited about watching Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane or Jon Jones?