Alistair Overeem believes Jon Jones can beat Francis Ngannou but he doubts the fight will happen.
The MMA world has been buzzing over a potential clash between UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou. Jones has been teasing a move up to heavyweight. “Bones” expressed confidence in his ability to move up in weight class after seeing Ovince Saint Preux take on Ben Rothwell. This led Ngannou to question just how serious Jones is.
Overeem Weighs In On Jones vs. Ngannou
Overeem, who is coming off a second-round TKO win over Walt Harris, told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that he doesn’t see Jones taking a fight with Ngannou right now as it wouldn’t be for a title (h/t BJPenn.com).
“To be honest, with all due respect, I do not think Jon is gonna do that fight,” Overeem said. “[He has] not much to win, a lot to lose. Because if he wins, he’s not heavyweight champion. The fight after that would be for the title, I guess.
“It’s a complex situation, but I definitely think Jon can beat him,” Overeem said. “It would be mega-fight. So it’s definitely something I am very much looking forward to …. I really enjoy these guys smack talking back and forth. It’s really amusing, and hopefully it will produce some great, great mega fights.”
Overeem has trained with Jones and fought Ngannou. “The Reem” was knocked out by “The Predator” in the first round. Finishes that quick have become the norm for Ngannou. He’s riding a four-fight winning streak and none of those bouts made it to the two-minute mark.
If Jones decides to hold off on a heavyweight run, then he’s likely going to put his light heavyweight gold on the line against Dominick Reyes in a rematch or Jan Blachowicz. Some feel Reyes was snubbed back in February with his unanimous decision loss to Jones. Blachowicz made a case for a title shot with his first-round finish over Corey Anderson later that same month.
