Topics: Francis Ngannou, UFC, MMA, Jon Jones, Dana White
Francis Ngannou has teased his UFC return amid reports that he is approaching the end of his current contract.
It's been nearly four years since former heavyweight champion Ngannou last step foot in a UFC octagon to defend his belt against France's Ciryl Gane.
The Cameroonian fighter then spent one year without a fight before leaving the UFC in January 2023 to pursue superfights in boxing.
After losses to both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, Ngannou returned for his most recent fight against Renan Ferreira in his Professional Fighters League (PFL) debut in October 2024.
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Since then, questions have been raised about when we would next see Ngannou fight, and now he's teased that he could be set to return to the UFC for what would be one of the biggest fights in MMA history.
Ahead of his departure from the UFC, it was heavily reported that Ngannou was set to fight Jon Jones once the UFC legend finally made his much-anticipated move to heavyweight.
However, the fight never materialised, with Jones eventually making his heavyweight debut with a title win over Gane in March 2023.
But now, Ngannou has teased that a potential return to the UFC to fight Jones could still be on the cards for as early as next year, despite the fight that he is still under contract with the PFL.
Ngannou signed for the PFL shortly after leaving the UFC in 2023 but has fought only once in the promotion, knocking out Ferreira last year.
This contract would of course stop him from returning to the UFC under any circumstances, but according to the man himself, this contract is already approaching its end.
"I'm getting very close on the PFL contract (ending)," Ngannou told The Ariel Helwani Show.
"They have to give me a fight."
A UFC return for Ngannou would certainly be a surprise after he had a public fallout with Dana White following his departure in 2023.
The UFC President and CEO has labelled Ngannou as a 'bad guy' who is hard to work with, and even accused him of putting hands on company executives.
Despite this, the former champion has suggested that a return to fight Jones on the highly-anticipated White House card next summer could be possible, as Jones has made his desire to fight on the card abundantly clear.
That being said, Ngannou admitted that he was not yet confident that the fight would be made, but believes that “there’s a chance”, adding that “anything can happen” with the White House card.
“I don’t have hand on it, so I’m not the decision-maker,” he claimed.
