Ngannou vs Lewis… is on?

With the UFC and Jon Jones not being able to agree on the price for a fight against Francis Ngannou, UFC president Dana White has apparently decided to move on. When Jones tweeted out that $8 million for the fight was too low, Derrick Lewis chimed in and said he would do it for that price. And just as it looked like Lewis was going to get his wish, Ngannou has said no.

When the UFC floated the match to the Ngannou camp it was immediately turned down as reported by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani “UFC has kicked the tires on Francis Ngannou x Derrick Lewis on June 12, sources say. However, the timing doesn’t work for Ngannou (and I don’t blame him; he just won the belt).” 

It looks like Ngannou was not planning on returning to the octagon until July at the earliest. It could be he is also hoping for the Jones fight and just using some delay tactics. Besides the incredible implications of what the win would mean for both fighters in MMA history, “The Predator” would stand to make a tidy sum more than the Lewis fight. 

Not that a rematch between Ngannou and Lewis wouldn’t be interesting after Lewis beat “The Predator” for the first time in what most people called possibly the most boring match in history. But this time around things are different. Ngannou is coming off of that convincing and devastating win over the best heavyweight in MMA history, Stipe Miocic, and is now the champ. 

With all this will this fight happen or will that fight happen, but nothing solid, it hasn’t stopped the people from putting out the odds on both fights. 

For the Mega-Match (the one we all want to see) between Jones and Ngannou, the line is Ngannou favored at -185 to -190. Jones would be the underdog for only the third time in his career, and the first since his second fight, at +150 to +165. And both times he was the underdog he came out on top.

As for the fight between Ngannou and Lewis, well there the odds are very different. Ngannou is heavily favored with opening odds set at -350 to -370. Lewis comes in at +275 to +280. These odds are pretty much the same as the last time they faced each other and we know what happened in that one. 

So what does it all mean? Nothing really. The UFC will still try to get the Jones vs Ngannou fight for the summer or fall, but with both fighters wanting more money than they are wanting to pay, it is becoming doubtful. But if they do manage to get this one together It will be a big payout for all three parties.

And with Ngannou not overly interested in a fight with Lewis (although it will probably happen) everything is still up in the air. But if you really want to play the odds look at Ngannou vs Lewis in the fall.