Francis Ngannou offers hope he could finally fight Jon Jones next year

Former UFC heavyweight champion has hinted a showdown with long-time rival could finally happen next year.

'The Predator' and Jones have been tipped to a potential fight for years before Ngannou made the decision to part ways with the and vacate the heavyweight title. 'Bones' would go on to fight Ciryl Gane for the vacant belt at UFC 285 last year and picked up a first round submission win to become a two-division champion.

Since leaving the UFC, Ngannou opted to step foot into the of before making his PFL debut last weekend. The 38-year-old first went toe-to-toe with last year, . He returned to the ring earlier this to take on two-time heavyweight world champion , but suffered a defeat.

The Cameroonian finally made his return to the octagon last weekend at PFL: Battle of the Giants when he took on dangerous heavyweight Renan Ferreira. From start to finish, Ngannou looked flawless. He opted against using his elite striking and instead managed to take his opponent down early doors before unloading some vicious ground-and-pound strikes to .

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Following the win, Jones was quick to share his thoughts and was full of praise for the former UFC star. In a post uploaded to X - formerly known as - 'Bones' wrote: "What an amazing job Francis did tonight, displayed a complete MMA game. Great kicks, great takedowns. It feels good to see him shine. Wow congratulations Champ, I see you."

Reacting to the comments, 'The Predator' revealed he will be watching Jones' clash with Stipe Miocic next month and also shed some light on the likelihood of the pair finally going head-to-head in the cage. Speaking on , when asked for his thoughts about Jones' comments, Ngannou said: "Whatever it means, I think it's class. He said it in a very nice way. So, I see him too, and I will be watching him on Nov. 16.

"There's a chance [we could fight]. I can't tell on the level of one to 10, I can't tell how many, but I know there's a chance. I mean, basically, I know that fight also interests [Saudi Arabia chairman of the general entertainment authority] Turki [Alalshikh], and not many things interest him."

While 'Bones' must first successfully defend his title against MMA legend Miocic at UFC 309 next month, there's a slight possibility that fans could see a potential super-fight between Ngannou and Jones, particularly if Turki Alalshikh is interested in it. Following on from his post praising 'The Predator', Jones replied to a comment saying that Ngannou would 'smoke' the UFC superstar. "Sure, everyone beats me up until they’re in there with me", his response read.

Reacting to the UFC heavyweight champion's comments, the Cameroonian was left unfazed. "I mean, that's true. Everyone has to believe," he said. "Everyone that steps in the Octagon has believed that he's going to beat his opponent. Even Renan Ferreira, he beat me up until we stepped in the Octagon. So, it's like that. I don't think that has nothing that wasn't directed to me. Knowing Jon Jones, I think that he was also very classy in that response. It didn't sound like he was mad."