UFC President Dana White had some big news to share after UFC Fight Night, revealing that UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou had been released from his contract, as the two parties were not able to come to terms on a new deal after two years of negotiations. White revealed that Ngannou is an unrestricted free agent and has been stripped of the Title (via Marc Raimondi), and it was confirmed that Jon Jones will be making his return to action for that very Title.
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White said the deal UFC presented Ngannou would have made him the highest-paid heavyweight in the company’s history and would have made him more than Brock Lesnar or anyone else, but he turned the deal down. White did also mention Ngannou’s knee surgery, noting it could be an issue for him as well (via MMAJunkie).
“We’ve been negotiating with (Ngannou) for more than two years,” White said. “We offered Francis a deal that would’ve made him the highest-paid heavyweight in the history of the company – more than (Brock) Lesnar, more than anybody, and he turned the deal down.”
Now the vacant Heavyweight Championship will be up for grabs at UFC 285, and Jones will make his long-rumored return to action at the event against Ciryl Gane. Jones hasn’t fought since UFC 247 in February 2020, where he won against Dominick Reyes. Then Jones decided to move up to the Heavyweight division, and it was believed he could eventually face Ngannou when he did return, though that is not going to happen now.
As for Gane, he lost a Title unification match to Ngannou last year, and now he will face Jones to potentially become the new Heavyweight Champion. You can find the current card for UFC 285 below.
Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane
Derek Brunson vs. Dricus Du Plessis
Geoff Neal vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
Viviane Araujo vs. Amanda Ribas
Bo Nickal vs. Jamie Pickett
Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci
Farid Basharat vs. Da’Mon Blackshear
Julio Arce vs. Cody Garbrandt
Mario Bautista vs. Guido Cannetti
Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Julian Marquez
Kamuela Kirk vs. Esteban Ribovics
UFC 285 will take place at the T-Mobile Arena on March 4th, 2023.
