Francis Ngannou gives sly retort to Dana White proposing Jon Jones vs. Tyson Fury fight - "That was never an idea when I was in the UFC"

Francis Ngannou's departure from the UFC was caused, in part, by the promotion's unwillingness to allow him to take a crossover boxing match. The former heavyweight champion has since signed with the PFL.

Meanwhile, UFC President Dana White has entertained a crossover bout involving heavyweight champion Jon Jones and WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

Ngannou weighed in on White's change of stance, while also giving an update on his own talks with "The Gypsy King." Answering a question from Mirror Fighting while at PFL 5, "The Predator" stated:

"I have seen a lot of comments from Tyson Fury. At this point of stage, I'm a little confused. I don't know if he's like enjoying doing comments or enjoying fighting at this point, but anyways, as I said, I'm here and I'm ready.

"My team has been working on getting in touch with him, with his team, which, so far, we are not there yet, but yes, we are in the conversation."

Ngannou was asked about Jones potentially facing Fury, responding:

"That was never an idea when I was in the UFC. Now that I’m not in the UFC, I think everything is all about how to take down Ngannou, but Ngannou stands up. Nothing is going to take me. I'm going to be here for a while."

Check out Francis Ngannou's comments below:

Francis Ngannou weighs in on the UFC offering Tyson Fury a "hybrid fight against Jon Jones 👀

“That was never an idea when I was in the UFC. Now that I’m not in the UFC, I think everything is all about how to take down Ngannou. But Ngannou stands up." https://t.co/gimHHGhsEC

Ngannou is looking to make his boxing debut in 2023, but the UFC did not allow him to do so. Dana White even referred to a rumored bout between "The Predator" and Anthony Joshua as a gimmick.

Will Tyson Fury face Jon Jones or Francis Ngannou?

While Tyson Fury had been in talks to face Francis Ngannou, the WBC heavyweight champion seemingly has his eyes set on a different UFC champion.

After being involved in a back-and-forth with Jon Jones, "The Gypsy King" revealed that he has received a contract offer from the UFC. He also noted that talks with "The Predator" are also still ongoing and said:

"I've been in talks with Francis Ngannou for a hybrid fight. There's talks of me and Jon Jones doing a hybrid fight as we talk right now.

"I received an offer from the UFC yesterday, so you never know what's going to happen. The future is bright for sure, and there's a lot of options out there."

Check out Tyson Fury's comments below:

International Boxing Hall of Famer Andre Ward weighed in on this during a recent appearance on "The MMA Hour." Ward doesn't believe either fight will come to fruition and said:

"I don't see Tyson really fighting either one of those guys. I really don't... If he took that, if he veered that way right now, I don't think it'd be the right time. Get a boxing fight, [Oleksandr] Usyk, [Anthony] Joshua, something like that, and then go fight one of those guys."

Check out Andre Ward's full comments below (starting at the 21:52 mark):