Right now, there’s a lot of question marks surrounding the UFC‘s heavyweight division. Francis Ngannou just defended his title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. However, it was the final fight on Ngannou’s contract and he fought with a knee injury that will keep him out most of the year.
If Ngannou was healthy and had more fights under his deal, the UFC would likely move to book the fight between him and Jon Jones (26-1, 1 NC). However, with Ngannou’s future in flux, there’s a lot of question marks surrounding what would be next at the top of the heavyweight division.
Last week, I threw out the idea of having Jon Jones fight Stipe Miocic (20-4) next. Miocic hasn’t fought since he lost the UFC heavyweight to Ngannou back in March of 2021. Miocic is considered to be the greatest heavyweight in the promotion’s history.
If anyone deserved an immediate rematch, it would be Miocic. However, the UFC didn’t grant Miocic a rematch despite the fact that he beat Ngannou in their first matchup which made them 1-1. Miocic also wasn’t offered a spot in the interim title fight that took place over the summer.
The former heavyweight champion has been chomping at the bit to get back into the cage. He said he would be interested in fighting Jon Jones and Jones came out on Twitter today and said he would also be interested in the facing the UFC’s heavyweight GOAT.
Will the UFC make the fight happen?
Right now, there’s a ton of smoke surrounding this potential matchup. It just makes all the sense in the world for the UFC. Jon Jones needs to get back into the cage as does Stipe Miocic. The fight would be massive and fans all around the world would tune in.
It honestly wouldn’t even matter who won in terms of the next fight’s magnitude. Jones against Ngannou would be the biggest especially if Jones comes in wearing interim heavyweight gold. However, who wouldn’t want to see Ngannou – Miocic 3 with both men wearing titles entering the fight.
With Ngannou’s situation in flux for most of 2022, expect another interim title. With that in mind, there’s no fight bigger for the interim title than Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.