Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou finally came face-to-face Friday night (June 16, 2023) during a cageside encounter at PFL 5 from inside Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
Jones and Ngannou share a history that goes back years. While they never actually squared off inside of the Octagon, the two heavyweights were always on a collision course as members of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). However, contract disputes ultimately got in the way of the massive superfight and Ngannou was released by UFC earlier this year.
On Friday, Ngannou made his first on-air appearance for PFL since signing an ultra-lucrative deal one month ago. Jones was also in attendance to help corner his teammate, Maurice Greene, who ultimately lost via decision in the main event (full PFL 5 results HERE).
Fight fans expected the two heavyweights to cross paths. After Jones cornered Greene in the main event he made his way past Ngannou and the two finally came face-to-face. Despite all of their bad blood and social media digs, it appeared as if Jones and Ngannou actually buried the hatchet.
Check out some of the footage in the above video player and below:
“Respect,” said Ngannou after poking fun at Jones’ weight.
“You know you don’t want no smoke,” responded Jones.
‘You don’t want no smoke,” said Ngannou.
“With the one true king,” Jones fired back.
‘I give you respect for that but I want that smoke,” responded Ngannou.
Jones and Ngannou would share a few more jabs before chumming it up and leaving on a good note.
Now that Ngannou is a member of the PFL roster the once proposed superfight with Jones is pretty much a thing of the past. Jones is unlikely to fight long enough to ever see Ngannou welcomed back into the UFC. For now, they’ll have to do their own thing on different sides of the MMA fence.
At least fight fans got a staredown on Friday night.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
