And the winner of that gets Israel Adesanya?
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has big plans for its heavyweight division, starting with the championship rematch between reigning division titleholder Stipe Miocic and murderous power-puncher Francis Ngannou, who are expected to collide in March.
Much to the chagrin of “The Predator.”
The winner of that titanic tilt will move on to defend the 265-pound strap against former light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones. “Bones” vacated the 205-pound title earlier this year after announcing his long-awaited move to the heavyweight division.
“The UFC wants Stipe Miocic to defend the heavyweight title against Francis Ngannou in March,” ESPN reporter Ariel Helwani said. “The title fight isn’t a done deal yet, but that is definitely what the promotion wants, I’m told. In a perfect world, the UFC would like for the winner of that fight to defend the belt against Jones in the summer, sources say.”
With Jones out of the picture, Jan Blachowicz was able to stop Dominick Reyes to capture the vacant crown. His first title defense could come against current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, also in March, with a Jones showdown later in the year.
I’m not even sure why we bother with weight classes these days since UFC seems to have adopted the old Strikeforce “super fight” model. It’s great for the fans, but belts are becoming cheap props to hype up whatever crossover fights the promotion can dream up.
Just ask this guy.