Immediately after winning UFC Heavyweight by winning Stipe Miocic at UFC 260, Francis Ngannou shared with the media that he wanted to return to the ring in July, or perhaps August this year.
However, the tournament has another plan for the new champion. More specifically, UFC tried to arrange the nunnou with the leading heavy rival, Derrick Lewis on June 12. The two had compared to each other at the UFC 226 event.
ESPN's Ariel Helwani reporter wrote on Twitter: “UFC arranged for Francis nunnou and Derrick Lewis to confront on June 12. But the time is not suitable for nunnou (and I don't blame him; he just won the belt).”
“The bigger problem here, in my opinion, at least now, UFC does not seem to care about waiting for Jon Jones.”
Both nunnou and Jones have tried their best with each other over the years. Unfortunately for UFC fans, no boxers are willing to put pen on paper unless Dana White will raise the remuneration for both.
“Because June 12, at least at the present time is no longer feasible, can they re -negotiate with Jones? Maybe. But Lewis is ready for the match, 100%,” Helwani continued.
“It would not be surprising if UFC tried to arrange the recovery match nunnou vs Lewis 2 at a time later, in the summer or autumn. It seems that UFC is not ready to meet Jones's price right now.”