Dana White says Jon Jones “can’t jump over” Francis Ngannou for the next title shot against Stipe Miocic

UFC president Dana White says Jon Jones “can’t jump over” Francis Ngannou for the next heavyweight title shot against Stipe Miocic.

Jones recently vacated the UFC light heavyweight title and announced his move up to heavyweight. “Bones” has been lifting weights in an effort to put on more mass before making the move up a weight class, where he hopes to land an immediate title shot against Miocic. However, the No. 1 contender for Miocic’s belt is Ngannou, who has won his last four fights by knockout, meaning Jones may have to wait a while to get his title shot.

Although Miocic has said that he would prefer a new challenge and would therefore rather fight Jones than Ngannou, White poured cold water on that happening. Speaking to the media following Tuesday’s edition of the Contender Series, White said that Jones won’t be able to leapfrog above Ngannou for the next shot at Miocic and the UFC heavyweight title.

“No, he can’t jump over Francis. Francis has earned his spot. If you think about it, what was the date that Francis last fought for the title in Boston? He fought Stipe in Boston in 2018. He’s been grinding for two years now and he deserves a shot,” White said.

If Ngannou does in fact get the next title shot against Miocic, then the natural question is, who does Jones fight in the meantime? We may have found our answer to that question this week when former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar became a free agent. Jones immediately expressed an interest in that fight and White likes it, too.

“Yeah, I mean, obviously I talked to TMZ about that one today, and I was like listen, if they both want to fight each other then I’m sure it’s a fight that the fans would want to see. It would be a good introduction to Jones into the heavyweight division. Yeah, if they wanted to do it, I would do it,” White said.

Do you agree with Dana White that Francis Ngannou deserves the next title shot against Stipe Miocic over Jon Jones?