Jon Jones has labelled Francis Ngannou a ‘big old p****y’ after the former heavyweight title holder reminded the newly crowned champion that he is still ‘the king’ at 265lb. Jones picked up the heavyweight strap in the early hours of Sunday morning with a first-round submission win over Ciryl Gane.
Jones had been out of action for three years before the fight but looked as sharp as ever as he quickly took down the Frenchman and locked in a guillotine choke for the tap. With the win, Jones becomes the eighth two-weight world champion in UFC history having previously held the light-heavyweight belt. He follows in the footsteps of the likes of Randy Couture, BJ Penn, Conor McGregor, Georges St Pierre, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Henry Cejudo in securing champ-champ status.
But despite his lofty achievements, Ngannou was quick to remind Jones that he is the best in the glamour division. “Good job Jonny Boy. Sincerely, the heavyweight king,” he tweeted.
Ngannou recently parted ways with the UFC after winning and successfully defending the heavyweight strap. The Cameroonian relinquished his title in the process and is now hoping to make the transition to professional boxing.
During the negotiations, the 36-year-old requested that the UFC grant their athletes fight night sponsorship rights, free health insurance and fighter advocates to represent them in board meetings but all three demands were rejected leading to Ngannou choosing to become a free agent.
After being matched up with Gane instead of Ngannou, Jones admitted that he would have rather fought the ex-champion instead.
“It does [take something away],” Jones told MMA Underground. “I feel that Francis is the more intimidating of the two. I feel like as far as American’s go, he’s more known in America. Francis is the big, scary, intimidating man whereas Ciryl is relatively unknown, obviously Francis has the belt so taking it from him would have been nice. It’s a completely different fight.”
