UFC: Jon Jones & Francis Ngannou Beef After PFL Announcement

UFC, PFL, Jon Jones, Francis Ngannou. Where is the "baddest man" now?

Jon Jones (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports) Francis Ngannou (Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones and lineal UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, have been throwing shade at each other on Twitter since Ngannou announced his signing with the 'Professional Fighter's League' (PFL).

The beef was spurred on by remarks made by Ngannou in an announcement by PFL and some comments from his YouTube channel:

"I'm the baddest motherf***er on the planet ... for whoever feels ready, they know who I am.

"No matter what other promoters say, no matter what some fighters say, no matter what [the] media says, who do you think is the baddest motherf***er on the planet? Me."

Taking slight at Ngannou's bold claims, Jones Tweeted his reply:

"Calling yourself the baddest man on the planet from across the street, who does that? Lol."

"Bones" followed up with another Tweet:

"Wasn't calling himself the baddest man when he was still a free agent. He signed safely behind a new organization, and now suddenly the baddest thing walking. Like we haven't all seen him quitting inside that cage before."

Ngannou jabbed fun at Jones' insults in his reply:

"Then cross the street."

The two men never came close to fighting in the UFC octagon, with Jones citing financial issues as a cause for not fighting Ngannou, and Ngannou eventually leaving due to contractual disagreements.

I had a brief phone meeting with UFC‘s lawyer Hunter a few days ago. As of right now I expressed to him that anywhere around eight to $10 million would be way too low for a fight of this magnitude. That’s all that has been discussed so far.

— BONY (@JonnyBones) March 31, 2021

Since Ngannou was never dethroned as champion, this makes him the UFC lineal heavyweight champion, and it creates a conflict of interest for fight fans, since the UFC heavyweight champion is widely regarded as the  'baddest man on the planet.'

So who is the baddest man on the planet now? It's open to scrutiny, but one thing is for sure, a heavyweight super-fight between Jones and Ngannou is a distant dream with both men representing different promotions.

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