Coach Doesn’t See 'Any Chance' of Francis Ngannou Returning to UFC

The MMA community was abuzz when both Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones recently expressed renewed interest in a potential fight.

However, that bout would have been easier to make — relatively speaking — when both heavyweights were under the UFC banner. Now, Ngannou is the biggest star in Professional Fighters League and the chairman of its soon-to-be launched African league. Meanwhile, Jones is the reigning UFC heavyweight champion, but the clock is ticking on a potential unification bout with interim title holder Tom Aspinall.

Regardless of what the future may hold for both men, Dewey Cooper, who is part of Ngannou’s Las Vegas-based coaching staff, doesn’t see a scenario where “The Predator” makes a return to the UFC. If Ngannou is to fight Jones, it would have to be a joint endeavor with multiple organizations.

“I don't see any chance of Francis returning to the UFC,” Cooper told Online Slots. “The other coaches on our staff may think differently. I can see him doing a kind of co-promotion thing, maybe a UFC fight, but in conjunction with the PFL. Because when all this went down and we ‘fumbled the bag’, the PFL had Francis' back, and one thing about Francis, he appreciates the support he got from PFL.

“He's not just gonna forget about that when the whole world said he screwed up and he blew it, or that he was afraid to fight someone — which was never the truth.  The PFL came to him and had his back, so as of now he's still with the PFL, so in order to do anything, the PFL would definitely have to be involved.”

With that being said, Cooper believes Ngannou would be more than willing to face Jones at a co-promoted event. Of course, the UFC has never been open to such arrangements in the past, so it’s unlikely the Las Vegas-based promotion would change its tune now.

“Francis Ngannou versus Jon Jones, that's the MMA fight that the world wants to see. That's the Mayweather versus Pacquiao fight that the world wants to see in mixed martial arts,” Cooper said. “I truly feel if you asked me if he's willing to go to the table with a co-promotion, absolutely he would, because he wants that fight with Jon Jones as bad as anyone wants it. 

“I'm sure he's willing to negotiate some kind of partnership to do it. And if the business truly made sense, I think even if Dana [White] would too — if it really made good business. I don’t think Dana would be pig-headed to say no, but it has to be done a certain way, or there's no way it could happen.”