John Jones Aims to End UFC Contract for Fight with Francis Ngannou

John Jones, who still holds out hope for a match against Francis Ngannou, recognizes that it may be too late for his final UFC bout. At the MVP MMA's first gala event on Saturday, Jones commented on Ngannou's devastating knockout victory over Felipe Lins in the first round.

Ngannou Returns with Knockout, Declares: "I am the best and period."

Jones admitted that he would still like to face the former two-division champion, a fight that was discussed years ago within the UFC. Despite his desires, Jones is still under contract with the UFC, and it's unlikely the organization would simply release him for a lucrative bout with another promoter.

"I need to focus on getting out of my UFC contract," Jones said during the "Rowzy vs. Carlson" broadcast regarding a potential fight with Ngannou. "That will be the hard part if this fight is to happen. I don't think Dana White is interested in doing business with Francis. Organizing it through MVP might be the only way this can happen. If we can end my contract, it would be great."

When Jones held the UFC heavyweight title, talks of a potential fight with Tom Aspina were ongoing. However, Jones decided to retire from the sport, only to announce plans to return shortly after the UFC announced an event at the White House in June. Despite his desire to participate in the historic event, UFC's CEO Dana White repeatedly stated he could not trust Jones to appear and would not allow him to compete in that event.

This led to another retirement from the sport for Jones, who now believes he has likely already fought his last match, rather than the Ngannou fight coming to fruition.

"I think I'm retired," Jones said. "I think I am. I have a great agent, the Kawa brothers, and these guys keep me busy. I'm constantly on the move, building my own business and supporting other companies. So I feel that if things weren't going so well, I would feel the pressure to return to the cage, but everything is going so well professionally that I really have no reason to fight anymore."

Regarding Ngannou's victory on Saturday, Jones was impressed but noted that Lins was significantly lighter and physically weaker before the fight began.

"He looked good tonight, but he was fighting against a guy who weighed around 220 lbs," Jones commented on Ngannou. "That guy was scared to engage in exchanges with Francis. He was certainly not on the same kickboxing level. I think Francis was very impressive tonight. He's starting to use hooks. Tonight he threw some really good high hooks. I'm just excited to see what's next for him."