Current UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones his given his prediction for the Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou fight, before being heckled amusingly by his former UFC rival, who wasn’t sat too far away.
The highly anticipated fight is less than two weeks away, with both fighters putting in their final preparations ahead of the bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Cameroonian shocked the world in his first professional fight, knocking down Tyson Fury during his controversial split decision loss against the heavyweight champion last October. He certainly goes into the fight less of an underdog than before, but this time he will look to come away with his first win as a professional boxer.
Jones, who won the UFC belt following Ngannou’s decision to venture into boxing, was invited onto DAZN by his former opponent Chael Sonnen, to give his opinion on how he sees the fight going.
With Ngannou sat next to Mike Tyson just a few feet away, Jones cautiously said: “I’m rooting for Francis to win, only because of his story, how far he’s come in life, and him being a fellow mixed martial artist. I mean how can you not root for Francis? Francis is a wonderful, stand-up person. But Anthony Joshua has been doing this since he was a young boy, and I’m the type of guy who just gives respect where it’s due.
Ngannou found Jones’ prediction amusing, before jokingly booing him and shouting: “You’re losing your money!” – a comment that earned him a fist bump from ‘Iron Mike’.
Jon Jones on his own future
Attention then turned to Jones’ next fight in MMA, with the current UFC heavyweight champion believing that he would beat Ngannou if he stepped back into the Octagon after his fight with ‘AJ’.
He said: “I feel like there’s a lot of fights that the world wants right now. There’s the Tom Aspinall fight, Francis Ngannou and I – that would be really massive – and Stipe (Miocic) to the hardcore fans, is still a respectable opponent. I don’t know how the cards will fall; my prediction is that I will beat Stipe Miocic, my prediction is that I will beat Tom Aspinall, and Francis Ngannou.”
The Cameroonian then brutally put Jones down by saying: “In your dreams! You’re f****** fat!”
