Jon Jones, arguably the most useful fighter of all time, will combat Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight championship at UFC 285 on March four, UFC president Dana White mentioned Saturday.
The announcement came after the UFC turned into unable to come to terms with its now former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
it'll mark Jones' first appearance in the Octagon on the grounds that February 2020, when he defended his light heavyweight title in opposition t Dominick Reyes. Jones vacated his belt presently after that combat and immediately teased a pending move as much as heavyweight.
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The UFC and Ngannou negotiated a brand new contract for the greater part of two years however have been ultimately unable to come to a deal. in line with White, the UFC offered Ngannou a deal that would have made him the "maximum-paid heavyweight in the background of the enterprise" and Ngannou, 36, turned it down. White talked about the highest-paid heavyweight in UFC history is still Brock Lesnar, who retired in 2017.
"I've told you guys this before -- in case you don't wish to be right here, you will not have to be," White noted. "I consider Francis is in a spot at the moment the place he would not are looking to take lots of chance. He seems like he is in an excellent position where he could fight lesser opponents and make greater cash. we will let him do that, unencumber him from his contract and quit our correct to healthy."
Ngannou did not automatically respond to requests for remark by way of ESPN.
Jones (26-1), 35, is extensively regarded the most suitable fighter of all time, among a short record that could consist of Georges St-Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Anderson Silva. He grew to be the youngest UFC champion of all time in 2011 at age 23. He went on to hang the easy heavyweight championship off and on from 2011 to 2020.
White talked about Jones turned into "capable, willing and ready" to battle any heavyweight, including Ngannou. Jones in short mentioned the matchup in a video posted on social media by way of Twitter consumer Michael Wonsover. Jones mentioned he hoped former UFC champion and Olympic gold medalist wrestler Henry Cejudo can be in a position to corner him within the combat, however Cejudo is additionally more likely to fight in the coming months.
in addition to booking the heavyweight title battle, Jones signed a new eight-battle contend with the UFC, in response to White.
In September 2021, Jones changed into arrested in Las Vegas and charged with misdemeanor home battery violence and injuring or tampering with a automobile. Jones was in Las Vegas to accept a hall of fame award, at which he spoke a few looming heavyweight debut. The home battery cost changed into ultimately dropped and Jones pleaded responsible to misdemeanor destruction of property.
Gane (eleven-1), of France, is a former interim heavyweight champion. He won that title by knocking out Derrick Lewis in August 2021. He tried to unify the belt in opposition t Ngannou in January 2022 and got here up simply short in a 5-circular resolution loss. In his most contemporary look, he knocked out Tai Tuivasa in most cases adventure of a UFC fight night in September.
The UFC 285 pay-per-view is scheduled to take place at T-mobile area in Las Vegas.
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