There is a new UFC heavyweight champion and a new combat sports superstar. Francis Ngannou is probably on his way to having one of the best years in combat sports, which started on Saturday with a brutal knockout of Stipe Miocic, the greatest heavyweight of all time. So, what’s next for Ngannou? Millions? Endorsements? UFC events in Paris or Africa? The sky is the limit.
As for Miocic, the GOAT heavyweight is far from out of the conversation. Is a trilogy fight with Ngannou part of your plans? Or will he temporarily step aside and wait to see how the division unfolds?
Before the main event, Vicente Luque made a statement with a submission victory over former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, and Sean O’Malley returned to the winning column with a new addition to his standout reel.
Let’s take a look at what lies ahead for the highlights of UFC 260.
Francis Ngannou, heavyweight (defeated Stipe Miocic by knockout)
Who should be next: Jon Jones
Oh baby. This is going to be a fight. It’s cliché, but it’s the truth: Ngannou is the scariest and meanest man – whatever you want to call him – on the planet right now. He’s the biggest challenge in MMA. He had that setback in 2018 against Miocic, but he clearly learned from it and is now realizing the immense potential that we all recognized since the first time we saw him.
We haven’t seen so much obvious potential in a fighter since … Jon Jones. I think it is safe to say that we are seeing Ngannou at its peak. Meanwhile, Jones, with the retirement of Khabib Nurmagomedov, is practically the consensus choice for the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. This is what you call a super fight.
Wild card: Stipe Miocic
If the negotiations between UFC and Jones have an obstacle – and there was no evidence that this is happening, but it is always a possibility – then we could see a different opponent for Ngannou.
At this point, it really is about time. After having been relatively inactive for the past few years, there is a feeling that Ngannou is ready to leave. If he wants to fight again and Miocic is not ready, it could be Derrick Lewis or even Ciryl Gane. The favorite non-Jones opponent to fight, however, has to be Miocic, who, despite the defeat, is still the greatest heavyweight of all time.
Stipe Miocic, heavyweight (lost to Francis Ngannou via knockout)
Who’s next: Ngannou vs. Vizner Jones
Miocic and Ngannou are tied at 1-1. Of course, this man deserves an immediate rematch against Ngannou. The problem is that the UFC has already made it clear that it wants to go in the direction of Jones, which I am not against.
Jones finally moving up to the heavyweight is really a big deal. He hasn’t fought since February 2020. I don’t want to see Jones out for two years, and I don’t think anyone wants to see that. Miocic, over 30, doesn’t love to fight at high frequency anyway, so let him wait. Reserve Ngannou vs. Jones in the fall, bring Miocic, put him in the front row, build a whole thing around it.
The sport places Jones as a heavyweight – a narrative he has waited a long time to see – and Miocic has time to rest and a chance to regain his belt in early 2022.
Wild card: retirement
I don’t know why the idea of retirement has followed Miocic in recent years. Perhaps it is because he has achieved everything you could ask for from him. Perhaps it is because he has been in some difficult fights, and his activity has decreased somewhat. He also admitted that he thinks about retiring after almost all fights.
But from a competitive point of view, he obviously hasn’t missed a step and he doesn’t need to retire at all. If he comes back to his family’s house and decides to end the day, I tip my hat to the GOAT heavyweight. If you still want to fight, your next fight needs to be for the title. It is the only right thing to do.
Vicente Luque, welterweight (defeated Tyron Woodley via submission)
Who’s next: Nate Diaz
Come on! I mean, why not? Diaz wants to fight, but he is selective with whom he fights. He wants an advantage. He wants one of those old school fighters – the ones who come after blood and not stitches. Luque is that guy. Will Diaz accept? Who knows? He won the right to choose his fights and he exercises that right.
When I look at the welterweight classification, there is no obvious confrontation for Luque to move on. Perhaps this is also where this explanatory text comes from. The one that makes the most sense from the standpoint of the ranking is Stephen Thompson, but Thompson beat Luque by decision in November 2019. I probably should have seen this headline coming, but I didn’t. And now I love it.
Wild card: Demian Maia
I don’t love that answer, honestly. Maia has made it well known that his next fight is likely to be his last. And if so, I don’t know if Luque is the ideal opponent. It’s a good fight, interesting, but if Maia is leaving the sport, Luque is going up. This kind of fight happens, but I don’t know if this is what we need to see.
That said, Maia is still ranked well, and there are simply not a ton of other options for Luque. Colby Covington and Leon Edwards may be on a collision course. Gilbert Burns and Luque are teammates. It may have to be Maia.
Sean O’Malley, bantamweight (defeated Thomas Almeida by knockout)
Who’s next: Randy Costa
Okay, so let’s just bow to one topic before moving on to the next. Marlon Vera deserves credit for defeating O’Malley in August, but treating this defeat as if it were a one-sided defeat in three rounds in which we discovered that O’Malley is not the guy we thought he was is just absurd.
The talent is there, always has been and seems to be improving. O’Malley is really hard to match for me, because there is definitely a part of me that wants to elevate it. He was much better than Almeida (who, of course, is not a proven world champion), I want to see an advance in the competition. That said, I don’t know if a classified opponent is appropriate yet. After one more.
Costa is good, young and talented. He has a great style to match O’Malley.
Wild card: Davey Grant
Grant is not ranked in the top 15, but is on a three-game winning streak – and is coming out of an absolutely sensational knockout over Jonathan Martinez. If Martinez had won that fight, he is actually a name that I could have dropped for O’Malley. And the guy who just beat him?