Francis Ngannou is unhappy that he hasn’t been able to fight lately.
The heavyweight has been confirmed as the next challenger for the 235-pound belt; however, the problem appears to be Stipe Miocic, who’s coming off a hard-fought victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 252. According to Ngannou, Miocic won’t be able to fight until March, meaning that the 34-year-old will go nearly a year without competing:
As you can imagine, the situation regarding the heavyweight belt has been frustrating for the division as Cormier and Miocic have been fighting over the belt for the past three years, and since Miocic has only been competing once in the last two years, this has greatly slowed down the division:
At the moment, there’s no word on when the actual fight will take place. With Jon Jones expecting to move up to the division following the Ngannou/Miocic title bout, perhaps the No. 1 contender and the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion may end up finally colliding if both competitors are tired of waiting for Miocic to recover. The teases for a potential fight between the two stopped when Jones’ financial demands weren’t met; however, the inactivity on both ends could fire it back up.