Though nothing is official, the UFC is targeting March for a
heavyweight championship clash between Stipe
Miocic and Francis
Ngannou.
UFC president Dana White revealed the promotion’s plans for the
bout during a recent interview with TMZ Sports.
“That fight won’t be ready till March,” White said. “It could
[happen in March] yeah, that’s the goal. We’ll see what
happens.”
Miocic recently concluded a trilogy with Daniel
Cormier with a five-round decision triumph in the UFC 252
headliner on Aug. 15. The Ohio-based firefighter is tied with
Randy
Couture for the most victories in UFC heavyweight title fights
with six, and that includes a dominant decision over Ngannou at UFC
220 in January 2018.
Ngannou has rebounded from back-to-back losses to Miocic and
Derrick
Lewis to author a four-bout finishing streak where all of his
victories ended in 71 seconds or less. He last appeared at UFC 249,
where he knocked out Jairzinho
Rozenstruik in just 20 seconds on May 9. “The Predator”
recently lamented his lack of activity in a Twitter post.
“I fought once for 20 seconds in the last 16 months,” he wrote.
I fought once for 20 seconds in the last 16
months
#ThisIsSucks— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou)
October 20, 2020
The UFC has not officially announced an event for March, so it is
unclear the target date for the Miocic-Ngannou rematch.