5 UFC heavyweight fights that could take place while Francis Ngannou recovers from injury
The UFC have an interesting dilemma with their heavyweight division.
Reigning heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has fought the last bout of his current deal with the promotion and he's also allowed to test the free agent market at the end of the year.
It remains to be seen whether Ngannou will re-sign with the promotion. Regardless of his decision, he’s expected to be out of action with injury for close to a year.
‘The Predator’ has undergone knee surgery, so the promotion will not have its champion active for the foreseeable future.
In the meantime, there are still plenty of intriguing fights the promotion could book to keep the title picture active.
They could decide to have non-title fights serve as a title-eliminator for a potential interim title. This list will look at five UFC heavyweight fights that could take place while Ngannou recovers from injury.
#5. No.7 ranked UFC heavyweight Alexander Volkov vs. No.8 ranked Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Alexander Volkov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik have remained top-10 UFC heavyweights for quite some time. They have both dropped a spot in the rankings as they lost their most recent bouts.
‘Drago’ was submitted by Tom Aspinall in the first round of their bout this past weekend.
‘Bigi Boy’, on the other hand, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Curtis Blaydes. Both need a big win to get back into title contention, so fighting each other could be the best option.
Volkov has had a successful MMA career so far. The former Bellator heavyweight champion has knocked out former champions including Fabricio Werdum and former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.
Rozenstruik has been one of the most entertaining heavyweights since joining the promotion in 2019.
The former kickboxer began his tenure in UFC with four straight knockout wins. But is 2-3 in his last five fights and is scheduled to fight Marcin Tybura next month. If he gets past Tybura, a bout with Volkov would be a logical next bout.