There is a new UFC heavyweight champion and a new superstar in combat sports. Francis Ngannou is probably about to have one of the greatest years in combat sports and started on Saturday with a brutal elimination of Stipe Miocic, the greatest weight of all time. So what’s next for Ngannou? Millions? Approvals? UFC events in Paris or Africa? The sky is the limit.
As for Miocic, the heavy goat is far from out of the conversation. Is a trilogy fight with Ngannou part of his plans? Or will he temporarily give up and wait to see how the division unfolds?
Before the main event, Vicente Luque made a statement with a winning victory over former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, and Sean O’Malley returned to the winning column with a new addition to his lead role.
Let’s take a look at what’s next for UFC 260 standouts.
Francis Ngannou, hard (defeated by Stipe Miocic by elimination)
Who should be next: Jon Jones
Oh baby. It will be a fight. It’s a cliché, but it’s the truth: Ngannou is the scariest, worst man – as you want to call him – the man on the planet right now. He is the ultimate challenge in MMA. He had that defeat in 2018 against Miocic, but he clearly learned from it and now he realizes the huge potential that we all recognized from the first time we saw him.
I haven’t seen this potential so obvious in a fighter since … Jon Jones. I think it’s safe to say we see Ngannou at the top. Meanwhile, Jones, along with Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is retiring, is almost the consensus choice for fighter no. 1 pound on the planet. This is what you call a super fight.
Wild card: Stipe Miocic
If the negotiations between the UFC and Jones hit – and there was no evidence of that happening, but it is always a possibility – then we could see a different opponent for Ngannou.
At that point, it really comes down to synchronization. After being relatively inactive in recent years, it feels like Ngannou is ready to leave. If he wants to fight again and Miocic isn’t ready, it could be Derrick Lewis or even Ciryl Gane. The favorite non-Jones opponent for the fight, however, must be Miocic, who, despite this loss, is still the heaviest weight of all time.
Stipe Miocic, heavy (lost to Francis Ngannou by elimination)
Who follows: Winner Ngannou vs. Jones
Miocic and Ngannou are now tied at 1-1. Of course, this man deserves an immediate revenge against Ngannou. The problem is that the UFC has already stated that it wants to go in the direction of Jones, which I am not against.
Jones, finally, moving to the heavyweight category is a very big business. He hasn’t fought since February 2020. I don’t want to see Jones sitting for two years and I don’t think anyone wants to see that. Miocic, for the last 30 years, doesn’t like high-frequency fighting anyway, so let him wait. Book Ngannou Vs. Jones in the fall, take Miocic out, put him in the front row, build a whole thing around him.
The sport is gaining weight for Jones – a narrative he has been waiting a long time to see – and Miocic has time to rest and regain his belt in early 2022.
Wild card: retirement
I don’t know why the idea of retirement has followed Miocic in recent years. Maybe because he did everything you could ask him to do. Maybe because he was in a tough fight, and his activity slowed down a bit. He also admitted that he is thinking of retiring after almost every fight.
But, from a competitive point of view, obviously he has not lost a step and does not need to retire at all. If he goes home to his family and decides to tell her one day, the hat goes to the heavy goat. If he wants to compete further, his next fight must be for the title. It’s the only right thing to do.
Vicente Luque, welterweight (defeated Tyron Woodley by submission)
Who follows: Nate Diaz
Let’s go! I mean, why not? Diaz wants to fight, but is selective in who he fights. He wants it upside down. He wants one of those old-school fighters – the ones who come for blood and not points. Luque is that guy. Will Diaz take it? Who knows? He has earned the right to choose his struggles and exercises his right.
When I look at the welterweight ranking, there is no obvious match for Luque to pass. Maybe that’s where this call comes from. The one that makes the most sense from a ranking standpoint is Stephen Thompson, but Thompson defeated Luque by decision in November 2019. I probably should have seen this notice coming, but I didn’t. And now I like it.
Wild card: Demian Maia
I don’t like that answer, honestly. Maia has announced that her next fight will probably be her last. And if that’s the case, I don’t know if Luque is the ideal opponent. It’s a good, interesting fight, but if Maia is about to leave the sport, Luque is on her way. This kind of fighting is happening, but I don’t know if we should see it.
Now that that being said, Maia is still in the top spot and there just aren’t a lot of other options for Luque. Colby Covington and Leon Edwards could be colliding. Gilbert Burns and Luque are teammates. It could be Maia.
Sean O’Malley, bantamweight (defeated Thomas Almeida by KO)
Next: Randy Costa
All right, so let’s put a bow on one subject before moving on to the next. Marlon Vera deserves credit for defeating O’Malley in August, but treating this loss as if it were a one-round, three-round defeat in which I learned that O’Malley is not the type I thought he was. just absurd.
The talent is there, it has always been there and it seems to be improving. O’Malley is actually a hard one for me to do, because there is definitely a part of me that wants to lift him. He looked much better than Almeida (who, of course, is not a proven fighter), I want to see a step in the competition. That being said, I don’t know if a ranked opponent is still right. After another one.
Costa is good, young and talented. He has a great style to match O’Malley.
Wild card: Davey Grant
Grant is not in the top 15, but is in a three-game winning streak – and is coming off an absolutely sensational knockout of Jonathan Martinez. If Martinez had won that fight, he’s actually a name I’d throw for O’Malley. How about the guy who just beat him?