Heavyweight Decisions
By Eddie Sanchez
A historic fight week has passed seeing Stipe Miocic successfully defend his title against Daniel Cormier in their trilogy. Going into the fight, the media was buzzing about the potential for the victor to be seen as the GOAT of the heavyweights.
Stipe battled and was ultimately successful. Since 2015, he is now 8-1 with six of those victories in championship fights. He holds the records for most consecutive defenses (3) and has not avenged his most recent defeat twice. The 37 year old has plenty left in the tank and has big-money options to consider.
Before considering his potential options, we must recognize and appreciate the greatness of Daniel Cormier. Unfortunately, this looks to be the end of his career. He is one of the few champ-champs in the UFC’s history and has only been bested by the most elite that the UFC has to offer in Stipe and Jon Jones, the recognized GOATs of their respective divisions.
While it’s a sad time for the former champ, he has built a great legacy and his expertise will be appreciated as a commentator and occasional trainer. There are those that believe Cormier will find a way to get back in the cage such as Dana White, but to take a man for his word, we will say thank you and move on to the current outlook of the heavyweight division.
As it stands right now, Stipe has two options for his next fight: Heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou and Light Heavyweight champ Jon Jones.
Both of these men have thrown their name out there as potential opponents and both have received favorable consideration from the MMA community throughout social media.
Dana White has done his best to quiet the noise and point Francis Ngannou out as the next man up, but as fans we cannot help ourselves but consider both options!
To start, Ngannou is clearly much deserving of this opportunity. Since losing to Stipe and Derrick Lewis in 2018, he has knocked out Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos and Jairzinho Rozenstruik in less than three combined minutes of action!
He is clearly feeling himself and has forced his name to be considered the next man up. Considering that Miocic-Ngannou would be a rematch, there are natural built-in storylines that could only elevate the product even further.
While the previous matchup is most likely to happen next, another opportunity mentioned, which hopefully would be the next fight after, is Jon Jones moving up to the heavyweight division.
Jon Jones is a BAD man and arguably is considered one of the greatest of all time pound-for-pound. Seeing him in the Heavyweight division would provide the opportunity for him to add his name to the list of two-division champions. While not necessary for his legacy, this would likely solidify his GOAT status.
Assuming that Dana sticks to his guns and offers us Miocic-Ngannou 2, Jon Jones taking on the winner would be amazing! Ngannou-Jones was already heavily rumored throughout the year and Miocic-Jones would be a classic legend vs legend matchup. You could not go wrong with either one.
The great Ariel Helwani agrees with the sentiment that this two-fight plan would be best for all parties, but he also supplemented this idea with another intriguing rematch.
Jon Jones settling the Light Heavyweight division beyond a shadow of doubt prior to moving up to the heavyweight division would be the best move. There was a fair amount of controversy after his fight with Dominick Reyes and seeing him handle business would set-up the promotion perfectly.
As fans, our hope is to see Miocic-Ngannou 2 before the end of 2020. Fortunately the prospects of this year closing out with a Heavyweight bang seem promising.
Do you see the Miocic-Ngannou rematch 100% happening next? Assuming Jon Jones moves up to the Heavyweight division, who would you want to see him take on most?
