Tom Aspinall questions Francis Ngannou’s elite status outside UFC: “These aren’t the best guys in the world”

Tom Aspinall believes it’s tough to put Francis Ngannou in an elite class if he isn’t fighting under the UFC banner.

Ngannou is a former UFC heavyweight champion, and he was never beaten for the belt. “The Predator” and the UFC couldn’t come to terms on a new deal. Ngannou ended up having lucrative boxing matches with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, as well as inking a deal with PFL.

While Ngannou took a gamble and won financially, Aspinall feels it’s prevented him from calling himself the best in the world.

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Tom Aspinall Dismisses Elite Label on Francis Ngannou

While some still view Francis Ngannou as one of the best heavyweights in the world, Tom Aspinall disagrees. During an appearance on “The Helwani Show,” the interim UFC heavyweight champion explained why he doesn’t look at Ngannou as an elite fighter (h/t MMAJunkie).

“I have a lot of respect for Francis,” Aspinall said. “I have a lot of respect for him, and I really appreciate his story. I really appreciate what he’s done in the sport, but it’s hard to debate right now. The guy he’s fighting, he’s not elite. Do you know what I mean? And the guys he’ll be fighting in the future aren’t elite, and it’s as simple as that. These aren’t the best guys in the world. The guy he’s fighting fought a friend of mine and a training partner of mine, Ante Delija (two years ago), and Ante just destroyed him within a minute or two. Took him down, ground and pounded him and stopped him within the first minute, and now this guy’s fighting Francis Ngannou.

“So, the guy isn’t elite, his opponent. Yeah, he’s big. Yeah, he’s powerful. Yeah, he could knock you out, but he’s not an elite heavyweight. I’m not disrespecting him. The elite guys are not in the PFL. The elite guys are in the UFC. It’s difficult to say that (Ngannou) is the best heavyweight in the world when he isn’t fighting elite guys right now.”

Aspinall is waiting to see how things play out between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic. Jones has said that after his UFC 309 title fight against Miocic, he’ll likely retire. If Jones wins and then hangs up his gloves, Aspinall would likely be promoted to the undisputed titleholder at heavyweight.