Eric Nicksick continues to study the rule that within the MMA neighborhood, you possibly can say one thing, and it spirals into one thing fully completely different, and that’s what occurred together with his current feedback about Francis Ngannou.
Talking with Residence of Battle, in an interview carried out by one among Nicksick’s Xtreme Couture teammates of practically 20 years, Ngannou’s head coach mentioned his fighter would be “100 percent” open to a UFC return down the road from a enterprise sense, as Ngannou doesn’t maintain any private grudges towards the UFC. Nicksick additionally commented on the heavyweight division within the UFC, and that was questions of, ‘Is Ngannou returning? Might he struggle Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall?,’ questions even requested to Dana White on the UFC 316 post-fight press convention.
Nicksick was requested to make clear these feedback, and he revealed he spoke to Ngannou as a number of the headlines had been popping out.
“It was form of a query of, with fandom, like, what eventualities can be nice. In fact I’m all the time going to say Francis and Jon are one of the best competitors on the market,” Nicksick advised MMA Combating. “So Francis texts me like a type of like, only a clickbait [headlined article], and he’s like, ‘Bubba, did you say this? I’m like, ‘No.’
“It was like mainly, ‘Francis Ngannou needs again within the UFC.’ That’s all. I’m like, bro, ‘What sort of non-f*cking journalistic put up was this, dude?’ It was loopy, however yeah, we had amusing about it as a result of Francis and I are literally on the telephone speaking about another stuff after which he’s like, ‘Oh shit, look, Jones simply tweeted,’ so we’re form of laughing about it.”
Nicksick says Ngannou has been in Las Vegas over the previous few weeks and coaching at Xtreme Couture. So far as what’s subsequent, Nicksick says he’s the flawed man to ask as he will get the knowledge from Ngannou and his administration workforce after the ink dries on a contract signifying that step.
“[Francis is] simply again within the room and simply again to coaching with the fellas, actually, however nothing like enterprise clever,” Nicksick mentioned. “That’s why I believed it was form of humorous, it was virtually like I used to be gifting away some inside data. I don’t know shit. I’m the man that, like, legit, bro, it cracks me up. I’m just like the man from Zero Darkish Thirty once they simply say, ‘Hey, you’re going tonight.’ That’s once I get to search out out what we’re doing. They hold me at nighttime on every little thing. …
“I’m a fan of the game. That’s all. I’m a fan of Tom, I wish to see Tom get his shot. He’s earned it, he’s deserved it, however I believe the heavyweight division is in a troublesome place proper now. It truly is. And that’s simply me speaking about what can revitalize this division that wants some assist, and there’s some choices on the market. I don’t know Francis’s contract cope with the PFL, I don’t know any of that stuff. That’s similar to me and also you simply chopping it up and I’m telling you the way I understand it and the way I see it, and if that possibility is all the time obtainable, Francis is a businessman, that’s all I do know.”
A possible Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou struggle would nonetheless be large in 2025, and it definitely would have had big enchantment when the UFC was making an attempt to place the bout collectively a number of years again.
Ultimately, Ngannou made the selection to move to PFL and vacate the UFC heavyweight title, then went on to compete in two large, multi-million greenback boxing matches towards Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. This previous October, Ngannou made his PFL debut the place he destroyed Renan Ferreira within the first spherical at Battle of the Giants.
Each MMA fan has their one struggle that bought away, and for Nicksick, not having the ability to get Jones vs. Ngannou can be a disgrace.
“I imply, for me personally, it’s bought to be No. 1, however, Randy [Couture] and Fedor [Emelianenko] are up there, too,” Nicksick mentioned. “Clearly I used to be there for part of that, however yeah, positively, I believe John and Francis simply due to the nostalgia of two heavyweights clashing collectively. One being the best of all time, the opposite one clamoring to be in that place of one of many biggest heavyweights that ever do it.
“So, yeah, man, I believe it ranks up there fairly excessive.”
