PFL still using UFC, Jon Jones in attempt to garner attention for Ngannou-Ferreira fight

Francis Ngannou and Renan Ferreira came face-to-face for the first time earlier today (Thurs., Aug. 22, 2024) at the special pre-fight press conference in Washington D.C. to promote their upcoming “super fight” on Oct. 19 at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Ngannou

See the staredown between the two heavy-hitters here.

often claiming “The Predator” wanted no part of Jones.

“That’s the new narrative because he needs to say something either way. But as far as I am concerned, he was saying to me Jon Jones didn’t want to fight with me, according to them,” said Jones. “So many times that we sat down with them in the meetings they would say, ‘It won’t happen, Jon Jones doesn’t want to fight anymore. He lives in Albuquerque, simple life, a lot of money in his bank.’ So, the guy that controls the narrative, he can say whatever he wants,” added Ngannou.

“But that is not the narrative. I was the one asking for the Jon Jones fight. But I didn’t want it to be like a trap to get into some deal, get into something that I didn’t want, you know. I wanted it to be straight and square. I wanted to fight Jon Jones on good conditions, not just to fight.”

crashed the broadcast during the “PFL vs. Bellator” event earlier this year in Riyadh, sending a message to “The Predator” knowing good and well a fight between them was no longer in the running. Still, “Bones” was given the platform to call out the promotion’s biggest star.

albeit a big one — as a heavyweight, he is considered by many to be best best big man in the game due to the promotion he’s fighting for.

For now, “Bones” has his sights set on Stipe Miocic for a showdown that is supposed to go down later this year, while Tom Aspinall’s efforts of trying to sneak in and steal the fight, or at least to convince Jones to hang around a bit longer, seem to be looking less and less successful.