Eric Nicksick is “optimistic” that there’s a chance Francis Ngannou vs Jon Jones could happen
Francis Ngannou’s head coach Eric Nicksick believes there’s still a chance that he could go on to battle Jon Jones.
Once upon a time, there was great desire from fans to see Francis Ngannou vs Jon Jones. Unfortunately, it never quite came to fruition. Now, Jones is the UFC heavyweight champion. Ngannou, meanwhile, is getting ready to begin a new venture with PFL.
For whatever reason, the UFC couldn’t get to a point where they made this fight possible. Negotiations fell through, and Ngannou opted to test himself in professional boxing.
Eric Nicksick, who has been by Ngannou’s side for many years now, gave his thoughts on the possibility of him battling Jones in a cross-promotional superfight.
Nicksick pictures Ngannou/Jones
“It has to be,” Nicksick told MMA Junkie. “How can you be in this position and not want to try to fight the best to ever do it, right? And again, I’ve said this time and time again, I think Jon is the best to ever do it, and if you’re a competitor, how do you not want to try to compete against arguably the best to ever do it?
“That is, yes – you want to gameplan, you want to compete, you want to try to put your best camp forward and your best fighter, and that’s obviously Francis. Yeah, that’s definitely something I would still love to have that opportunity to be able to do.”
“I’m very optimistic when it comes to these things and I think money talks, you know, and you get the right people behind you,” Nicksick said. “Obviously we have a good relationship with Saudi, and I know Dana and UFC are working well with Saudi, so money talks. No disrespect to Dana, but he has a boss as well. So, somebody tells, ‘Hey man, this is a lot of money. We’re taking this. Set your ego aside.’
Quotes via MMA Junkie
Will it ever happen? Let us know your thoughts, BJPENN Nation!
