Derrick Lewis says he has accepted Francis Ngannou fight: “Jon Jones is out of the picture”

UFC heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis says he has accepted a fight with Francis Ngannou and he believes Jon Jones is out of the running.

After Ngannou knocked out Stipe Miocic at UFC 260 to become the UFC heavyweight champion, most thought that Jones would be next in line to fight “The Predator.” However, Jones and the UFC are now involved in a public pay dispute and there is no guarantee that Jones gets the fight. Instead of “Bones” getting the title shot, UFC president Dana White pointed to Lewis fighting Ngannou in a rematch instead, and it appears that fight is next.

Speaking to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Lewis confirmed hat the UFC has offered him the rematch with Ngannou and that they are just waiting on the champ to say yes now.

“I don’t even know if I can be talking about all of this. But something’s going to happen. We’re just waiting on Francis. I got the fight, so I’m just really waiting on Francis to pick what date he wants to get in on. They gave him some dates, some months, so we’re just waiting on him to respond,” Lewis said.

“August is looking real good right now, so they’re going to see what it’s like in August for him.”

Ngannou just returned home to Cameroon to spend time with his family and fans, so he will likely need some more time off before he steps back into the cage. The original plan was for Ngannou vs. Lewis 2 to take place at UFC 263 in June, but with Ngannou needing more time off, Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori now headlines that card instead.

With Lewis accepting the Ngannou matchup, “The Black Beast” believes that Jon Jones is now officially out of the running in being the next man to fight for the heavyweight belt.

“(Jon) Jones is out of the picture,” Lewis said.

How excited are you for the rematch between Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis?