Eric Nicksick has learned a valuable lesson: in the mixed martial arts world, a simple comment can quickly escalate into something completely different. This is exactly what happened with his recent statements concerning Francis Ngannou.
During an interview, Ngannou’s head coach, Nicksick, who is also a long-time teammate at Xtreme Couture, indicated that Francis would be “100 percent” open to a future return to the UFC purely from a business standpoint, as he holds no personal issues with the promotion. Nicksick also shared his thoughts on the current state of the UFC heavyweight division. These comments rapidly led to speculation and questions about a potential Ngannou return, including possible matchups against Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall, even being raised with Dana White at a post-fight press conference.
Asked to clarify his earlier remarks, Nicksick revealed he spoke directly with Ngannou as the headlines began circulating.
“It was really about discussing fan scenarios, like what hypothetical situations would be exciting,” Nicksick told MMA Fighting. “Naturally, I`m always going to say Francis and Jon represent the top competition available. Then Francis texted me one of those clickbait articles and asked, `Bubba, did you say this?` and I replied, `No.`”
“The headline was essentially, `Francis Ngannou wants back in the UFC.` That was it. I thought, `Dude, what kind of non-journalistic nonsense is this?` It was crazy, but we had a good laugh about it because Francis and I were already on the phone discussing other things, and then he suddenly said, `Oh look, Jones just tweeted,` so we were laughing about that situation too.”
Nicksick mentioned that Ngannou has been in Las Vegas recently, training at Xtreme Couture over the past few weeks. Regarding what’s next for Francis, Nicksick admits he’s not the one with the inside information. He typically learns about Ngannou`s next steps from Francis and his management team only after a contract is finalized.
“Francis is just back in the gym, training with the guys, really. There`s nothing business-related happening right now,” Nicksick explained. “That`s why I found it amusing; it was like people thought I was leaking inside information. I honestly don`t know anything beforehand. It cracks me up. I`m like the character in Zero Dark Thirty who only gets told, `Hey, you`re going tonight.` That`s when I find out what we`re doing. They keep me completely in the dark…”
“I`m simply a fan of the sport. That`s all. I`m a fan of Tom Aspinall, I want to see him get his opportunity. He`s earned and deserves it. But I do think the heavyweight division is in a tough spot right now. It genuinely is. And that`s just me expressing my opinion on what could revitalize this division that needs some help. There are options out there. I don`t know the specifics of Francis`s contract deal with the PFL, I don`t know any of that. It`s just me talking casually, sharing my perspective on how I see things. If that option is ever available, Francis is a businessman; that`s all I know.”
A potential clash between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou would still be a massive event, even in 2025. It certainly would have generated immense interest several years ago when the UFC attempted to organize the bout.
Ultimately, Ngannou chose to leave the UFC, vacating the heavyweight title, and subsequently competed in two high-profile, multi-million dollar boxing matches against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Last October, he made his PFL debut, where he quickly defeated Renan Ferreira in the first round at Battle of the Giants.
Every MMA fan has that one dream fight that never happened. For Nicksick, not getting to see Jones vs. Ngannou would be a genuine disappointment.
“For me personally, that`s got to be the number one unmade fight,” Nicksick stated. “Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko is up there too. Obviously, I was around for part of that era. But yes, definitely Jon and Francis, simply because of the idea of two heavyweight titans clashing. One widely considered the greatest of all time, the other vying for a position among the greatest heavyweights ever.”
“So, yes, I think it ranks pretty high on that list.”