Francis Ngannou
Although he’s been assured he’s next in line for UFC heavyweight champion and former foe Stipe Miocic, Francis Ngannou is rightly frustrated.
Like others on this list, Ngannou has challenged for the belt before, and his loss to the current champion is holding him back from another opportunity. That, and he’s one of the scariest opponents in the sport.
Ngannou, the top ranked contender, is 2-0 against the second-ranked Curtis Blaydes, and knocked-out the third-ranked Jairzinho Rozenstruik earlier this year. Although Miocic is reportedly eyeing a different opponent following his trilogy with Daniel Cormier, it’s hard to deny Ngannou, even with the past loss.
Enter: Jon Jones.
As previously mentioned, White has publicly stated that Ngannou is next for Miocic, and that the plans for Jones involve Adesanya. But, should Adesanya lose to Blachowicz, Jones’ attention turns more completely toward heavyweight, and Miocic continues to play the waiting game, it wouldn’t be a shocker for the promotion to pivot to Miocic-Jones.
That fight would make sense for everyone involved, except Ngannou. Although he’d be there waiting for the winner, he’d be doing just that. Waiting.
Making it into title contention in the UFC is tough. But it gets even tougher when a shot at the belt feels further away than a fighter’s ranking would indicate. Then again, things can change rather quickly in MMA. So, maybe these contenders aren’t as far away from UFC gold as some may think.
