Dana White reveals whether Jon Jones will jump over Francis Ngannou for a Heavyweight title shot
Francis Ngannou has had his big opportunity coming for a long time now. There's little doubt over who Stipe Miocic should be facing after the conclusion of his trilogy against Daniel Cormier that took up three years in the Heavyweight division.
The trilogy happened half a year after Stipe Miocic took out Francis Ngannou against all odds in perhaps the toughest fight of his first Heavyweight title reign.
Jon Jones' entry into the Heavyweight division after claiming that he vacated the Light Heavyweight title will certainly shake both divisions up. But UFC President Dana White doesn't think that his "interesting" bid means that he'll jump over Francis Ngannou. Speaking to the media (via MMA Fighting), Dana White said:
“Francis has been out there destroying everybody, and if you look at how long ago it was that he got that title shot, he’s worked his way back,” White said. “It belongs to Francis Ngannou. But yeah, Jon Jones going to heavyweight is very interesting.”
Francis Ngannou's bid for the gold
After his loss to Stipe Miocic, Francis Ngannou had lost against Derrick Lewis in an underwhelming fight, following which he's gone on a four-fight win streak. Not only has Francis Ngannou won four times in a row, but all of his victories have come in the first round and his total fight time has been just 2 minutes and 42 seconds out of a potential 40 minutes.
With names like Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik now on his KO list, it's clear as day that he's ready to face Stipe Miocic for the second time.
It's a matter of when and not if he'll face Stipe Miocic. While things could always change, there's only one PPV that seems to be available for a Heavyweight title defense this year - UFC 256 in December.
However, that card could also feature the likes of Dominick Reyes vs Jan Blachowicz for the vacant Light Heavyweight title, and potentially even Kamaru Usman vs Gilbert Burns for the Welterweight title.
There hasn't been much news coming out of Amanda Nunes' camp but given that she's almost out of opponents, she could possibly have a title defense at the end of the year.