File this one under press releases that answer questions nobody asked. The International Boxing Association announced Monday from its Lausanne headquarters that it stands ready to organize a professional boxing bout for Jon Jones, the former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion. Opponents floated in the same statement included Francis Ngannou and Daniel Cormier.

There are a few problems with this.

Jones is still under contract to the UFC. The UFC, owned by TKO Group Holdings, does not generally allow its fighters to take outside combat-sports bookings, and certainly not ones promoted by an organization headquartered in Lausanne and operating primarily out of Russia. UFC president Dana White has continued to refer to Jones as part of the roster, despite Jones vacating the heavyweight title in 2025 and not having competed since stopping Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November 2024.

None of that appears to have slowed IBA president Umar Kremlev.

“If we are talking about a potential move into boxing for Jon Jones, these are the kinds of stories that interest us,” Kremlev said in the statement. “Jones in the ring against Daniel Cormier or Francis Ngannou, but under boxing rules, these are the fights that the whole world is talking about and waiting for.”

Kremlev added that Jones is expected to travel to Russia on June 27 for the IBA Bare Knuckle tournament, and that the two will discuss the matter in person.

“It is important to understand how serious his plans are to test himself in boxing,” Kremlev said. “If this interest proves to be real, the IBA will stage a major event featuring him in Russia.”

The Sanctioning Question

The IBA’s role in boxing has narrowed considerably in recent years. The International Olympic Committee stripped the organization of its recognition as the sport’s amateur governing body in 2023, and boxing at the Los Angeles 2028 Games will be administered by World Boxing, which has since secured provisional IOC recognition. The IBA has continued to operate independently and has staged a string of professional and bare-knuckle events, the majority of them in Russia.

The IBA is not one of the four sanctioning bodies that govern world professional boxing. A bout promoted under its banner would carry no WBC, WBA, IBF, or WBO implications. It would also not appear on any of the major North American or European broadcast platforms that televise meaningful professional boxing.

What it would be, essentially, is an exhibition with a press release.

The Opponents

Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, has two professional boxing matches on his record. He lost a competitive decision to Tyson Fury in October 2023 and was stopped in two rounds by Anthony Joshua in March 2024. He has since returned to mixed martial arts under the PFL banner.

Cormier, 47, retired from active competition in 2020 and has worked primarily as a UFC analyst since. He has no professional boxing record, and at no point in his career has he indicated any desire to start one.

Neither fighter has commented on the IBA’s proposal. It is unclear whether either was asked before the statement was issued.

Jones’s Status

Jones, widely regarded as one of the most accomplished fighters in mixed martial arts history, has spoken in recent interviews about wanting to test himself in boxing, including in a potential bout with Ngannou. He has no professional boxing experience. He also, again, remains under contract to the UFC.

Representatives for Jones have not publicly responded to the IBA’s statement, which closed with a line about the organization’s commitment to “world-class, independent, and globally anticipated combat sports spectacles.” The fight, at present, exists only in that sentence.