Watch as Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou come face to face after years of MMA rivals feuding
JON JONES and Francis Ngannou came face to face after years of feuding.
The pair looked on course to collide in a heavyweight super-fight until Ngannou walked out on the UFC.
He instead signed with rivals The Professional Fighters League and sat cageside at an event in Atlanta.
It just so happened that Jones was in the house to corner team-mate Maurice Green, who lost in the night’s headliner against Ante Delija.
So it perfectly set the scene for the two to talk it out.
Jones, 35, and Ngannou, 36, went back and forth before ending the exchange with a handshake.
The UFC champion admitted there were no hard feelings when probed on running into his rival.
Jones told ESPN: “I’ve met Francis before, he’s a sweetheart of a guy.
“Outside of the fight game, he’s a pretty respectful guy, I can be really respectful as well.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the brother and giving him some knuckles.”
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Ngannou vacated the UFC title when walking out on the promotion.
And Jones picked it up in March, beating Ciryl Gane, 33, to become a two-weight UFC champion.
But with Ngannou now across the street with a separate promotion, Jones is ready to make a friend out of his former foe.
He said: “If we’re not fighting there’s no reason to have a bunch of beef, especially when we see each other in person.
“It’s cool to talk trash and keep the fans excited and stuff like that but if there’s no fight contract, we’re bros at the end of the day.”
But Jones warned not to take his kindness for weakness as he insisted: “I know that I’m better than him.
“So I don’t have to give him any weird looks or whatever.
“He’s big muscles, he’s a very impressive looking figure but when it comes to this fight game, it’s my whole world and I know who I am.”