Francis Ngannou will likely have his first title defense against Derrick Lewis, according to UFC president, Dana White.
After Ngannou scored a second-round KO win over Stipe Miocic to become the new champ, many wondered who would be next for him. The hope for many MMA fans was the UFC would book the Ngannou-Jon Jones fight would would be one of the biggest ever.
However, according to White, it appears Lewis will face Ngannou next time out.
“It’s probably going to be ‘The Black Beast,'” White said to Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole. “At the end of the day, Derrick Lewis and Ngannou is the fight. That’s the fight to make right now.
“Derrick Lewis is a heavyweight, he’s been fighting at heavyweight. He’s earned this shot (against Ngannou),” he continued. “He’s got a win over him. It’s the fight to make.”
Both Ngannou and Jones called for the fight to happen, but “Bones” was asking for a lot of money. If Lewis does end up getting the next shot, Jones would remain on the sidelines training and waiting for the UFC to meet him in the middle for his pay demands.
Even though Ngannou vs. Jones was the fight many wanted, the rematch with Lewis does make sense. Lewis is on a winning streak and coming off a highlight-reel KO win over Curtis Blaydes. The two also fought at UFC 226 in what was one of the worse fights of all time as the two barely threw any punches.
Ahead of the possible rematch, White hopes the second fight between Ngannou and Lewis will be much better than the first.
“That fight didn’t do what everybody expected it to do,” White said of Ngannou-Lewis at UFC 226. “It can’t go bad twice, can it?”
Who do you think will win, Francis Ngannou or Derrick Lewis if they end up fighting?
