Stipe Miocic is hoping for the Francis Ngannou trilogy by early 2022, saying “I really would love to fight Francis again for the rematch.”

Miocic lost the UFC heavyweight title in March at UFC 260 when he was brutally knocked out by Ngannou in the pair’s rematch. The fight was one-sided for Ngannou and so Miocic won’t get an immediate rematch despite the fact that he dominated Ngannou the first time they fought in 2018. Instead of Miocic being granted the rematch, the UFC has given the next title shot against Ngannou to Derrick Lewis, and the two will likely meet this summer.

For Miocic, however, the goal is still to get the belt back. Speaking to Submission Radio., Miocic said that he is still dreaming of getting his belt back and he is hoping that the UFC will grant him another shot against Ngannou by early next year, this after UFC president Dana White recently said Miocic was in line to fight the winner of Ngannou vs. Lewis 2.

“I want a rematch, and I wanna get my title back. He took something that was mine, and it drives me nuts every day. I’m always fired up after a loss. I hate losing. I’ve lost a few times, and just, I hate losing, it just drives me nuts. I hate losing. I’m very competitive and I like winning,” Miocic said (h/t Jesse Holland of MMAMania.com).

“Honestly, I don’t care who it is. I really would love to fight Francis again for the rematch and get that ‘W’ back over him in the rubber match. But yeah, I don’t care who it is. I’m not preferring anyone, but if I had a choice, I would want to fight Ngannou again. Just because he beat me last time and took the belt. We’ll see when I get a rematch. Maybe early next year.”

Do you think Stipe Miocic has what it takes to beat Francis Ngannou in the trilogy fight?