“We will never do business together”

If you were hoping to see UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones take on PFL SuperFights champion Francis Ngannou in a dream fight, Dana White may have delivered the final blow to that concept.

In his recent anti-PFL and Ngannou rant, White made it clear that he dislikes the former UFC heavyweight champion and believes that feeling is mutual.

“NO. I didn't like Francis as a person,” White said at the UFC 308 post-event press conference when a reporter asked him if he wanted to cut Ngannou after losing to Derrick Lewis in July 2018. “Wasn't a guy that I wanted to have business with. My boys told me he was misunderstood and I told them if someone showed you who he was, you should believe him not a good guy. He plays the good guy: “Duh, duh, I don't understand the language,” so he seems like a nice guy, but he's just not the guy I wanted to do business with. Period, end of story.”

The reporter continued and asked about the possibility of a fight between Ngannou and Jones.

“We will never do business together,” White replied before the reporter finished the question. “I mean, you can tell; We don’t like each other.”

Here's a look at the entire post-event press conference. The part about Ngannou starts at 9:50 a.m.

It's a little scary how fragile a fighter's future in the UFC can be if he isn't liked by either White or the powers that be in the UFC.

Ngannou hit a rough patch where he was defeated in a terrible fight by Stipe Miocic, the then champion, and then Lewis. At no point did Ngannou look like a guy who should be cut.

If Tony Ferguson is still in the squad with seven straight losses and severely limited abilities, there is no logical reason for Ngannou to be left out. Simply not liking the guy doesn't seem fair. In any case, Jones' chances against Ngannou seem slim – at least in the foreseeable future. Jones, 37, has already hinted at retirement.

A fight and a payday associated with the 38-year-old Ngannou would likely motivate Jones. However, it is unclear how many fights Jones has under his current contract with the UFC. He is at the age where he could decide to take a huge sum from the PFL – which would probably have some financial incentive through their Saudi backing to make the fight easier.

It's the only fight the PFL would be willing to do that the UFC wouldn't make. However, it won't have the same impact if Jones can't extricate himself from the UFC in time for the fight to be meaningful to fans.

This is combat sports, so we can never say never, but it's safe to say that Jones vs. Ngannou won't happen at the height of its importance.