Francis Ngannou has reacted to the news that Jon Jones has suffered a torn pec and is out of his UFC 295 title defense against Stipe Miocic.
Jones was set to defend his title for the first time on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, in a highly-anticipated matchup. It was rumored to be a retirement fight for both of them, so many fans were excited to see how the fight played out. However, on Tuesday night, UFC CEO Dana White announced that Jones suffered a torn pec that forced him to pull out of the fight. Now, Tom Aspinall will take on Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295.
Following Jon Jones’s withdrawal, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou – who’s set to box on Tyson Fury on Saturday – said he’s sad the fight won’t happen as he was excited ‘Bones’ fight Stipe Miocic.
“Well, I think it’s sad news. It’s never good news when athletes get injured. Basically, in training. I hope he recovers well. I was very excited to watch that fight and see who was going to win that fight,” Francis Ngannou said to MMAJunkie in Saudi Arabia.
After the news came out that Jon Jones was hurt and the UFC’s big heavyweight title fight was off, he didn’t feel happy or vindicated. Instead, he says he felt bad that Jones got hurt, as even though he’s not in the UFC, he was excited to watch the fight.
“Something like this is not something you can blame to somebody,” Ngannou said. “It’s something that can happen to everybody. It could’ve happened here. It could happen to anybody. I don’t think that’s a part of the decision, but yes. It sucks, though.”
Francis Ngannou, as mentioned, is set to box Tyson Fury on Saturday in his first fight since leaving the UFC. He last competed in January of 2022 when he beat Ciryl Gane by decision.
