UFC president Dana White says the UFC is targeting April for the rematch between UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou.
White confirmed several months ago that Ngannou was next in line to fight Miocic for the belt, and a March date was originally targeted for the rematch between the two heavyweights. However, the date has been pushed back once again after the promotion recently announced Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya are heading UFC 259 in March, and the UFC is now targeting April for Miocic vs. Ngannou. White confirmed as much in a recent Q&A with fans.
Dana says Stipe vs. Ngannou will probably happen in April #AskDana
— Amy Kaplan (@PhotoAmy33) January 6, 2021
Dana White says Stipe vs. Ngannou will probably happen in April #AskDana (h/t Amy Kaplan).
Miocic and Ngannou first met back at UFC 220 in January 2018. At the time, Ngannou looked to be unstoppable coming off of an insane KO win over Alistair Overeem at UFC 218 and White granted him a title shot a month later to take on the champion. But Miocic pulled off the upset win as he was able to evade Ngannou’s power shots early in the fight only to use his grappling advantage to take the fight on the floor and wrestle Ngannou for a unanimous decision win.
Three years later and we are now set for the rematch between Miocic and Ngannou in just a few short months. Miocic is coming off of back-to-back wins over his rival Daniel Cormier to cement his status as the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time, while Ngannou has won four straight fights by knockout to earn another crack at the heavyweight belt. If the belt being on the line wasn’t big enough stakes, the winner of Miocic vs. Ngannou 2 also seems likely to welcome UFC legend Jon Jones to the heavyweight division.
How excited are you for the rematch between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou?