UFC wants Francis Ngannou to serve as a back-up for Heavyweight Title fight between Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier
UFC 252 will be headlined by Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier with the former defending the Heavyweight Championship against his arch-rival, in what will be the third fight between the pair.
However, keeping the COVID-19 pandemic and other scenarios in mind, there are no guarantees that either fighter will make it to the pay-per-view and the UFC seemingly has plans of reserving Francis Ngannou as a back-up for the Heavyweight Title clash in August.
Francis Ngannou could be serving as a back-up for the UFC 252 Heavyweight Title fight
Francis Ngannou has been on a dominating run in the UFC. In his last few fights, The Predator' has finished-off most of his opponents within mere seconds and in his last Octagon outing, Ngannou knocked-out Jairzinho Rozenstruik within 20 seconds of their UFC 249 clash.
Having failed to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship in 2018, Ngannou has finally called for another shot at the belt after having compiled an impressive winning streak in the promotion.
However, 'The Predator' will have to wait a while before getting his shot at the title, given that Miocic will collide with DC for the third and final time in the main event of UFC 252. But, given either fighter somehow fail to make it to the fight, Ngannou could serve as a back-up for either man and get his shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
While speaking on The Schmozone Podcast recently, Dana White stated that the promotion has been in talks with Ngannou for serving as backup but as of now, nothing has been confirmed just yet.
“We’ve talked to [Ngannou] about that. I don’t know where we are on those talks, but yeah, obviously if one of those guys fell out, we’d be looking to put Francis in there.” White said The Schmozone Podcast (transcribed by Tom Taylor).
UFC 252 is expected to take place at the UFC Apex Center, given the UFC will be headed to the Yas Island AKA The UFC Fight Island for four events only, including the UFC 251 pay-per-view which will be headlined by Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman for the UFC Welterweight Championship.
On the other hand, the August based pay-per-view will be headlined by Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic, as the two men set for a third collision for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Miocic, having regained the title from DC, will look to successfully defend his belt against the latter for the very first time.