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Why is the UFC so quick to dismiss Stipe Miocic as the first challenger to Francis Ngannou? It is as if they do everything possible to sweep him aside as quickly as they can each time he loses. It is mind boggling and ridiculous treatment towards the greatest Heavyweight Champion the UFC has ever seen.
They did this exact thing the first time he lost the title back in 2018 to Daniel Cormier. Before he could even leave the cage that night, they had Brock Lesnar in the cage calling Stipe a piece of $h!+, and challenging Daniel Cormier. He went as far to shove Cormier and make a joke of the entire thing.
That is horrible treatment towards a man who carried the heavyweight championship back to prominence. After the Lesnar bout fell though, the UFC came crawling back to Stipe who promptly knocked out DC, and then in the trilogy bout, sent him into retirement he beat him so badly.
And yet, the first chance the UFC got to disrespect him again, they did so without blinking after his title loss to Francis Ngannou. Without hesitation they immediately began talking about a “Dream Match” with Jon Bones Jones as well as a possible rematch with Derrick Lewis. Not once did anyone except Michael Bisping briefly mention the chance of a trilogy with Stipe Miocic.
Let me make a few things clear. Yes, a dream match with Jon Bones Jones would be must see. But what has Jones done to earn it at heavyweight? Not to mention, can you even trust Jones to show up or make an entire camp without getting in some sort of trouble?
The last time Jones looked dominant in a cage was March 2019 with a great win over Anthony Smith. Since then, he won two highly disputed decisions over Thiago Santos at UFC 239 and over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February of 2020. His win over Santos was a split at best, but Reyes clearly beat him 4 rounds to 1. Either way, he hasn’t fought since.
As far as a rematch with Derrick Lewis goes, that is a total joke. The Lewis versus Ngannou matchup back in July of 2018 was one of the worst and most boring in UFC history. Lewis had a UFC heavyweight title shot against Daniel Cormier at UFC 230 in which DC put him away with ease. Lewis looked overmatched and outclassed.
Since then, Lewis has been TKO’d by Junior dos Santos. He then won a highly disputed split decision over Blagoy Ivanov in which I felt he lost. From there he has rebounded with wins over Curtis Blaydes and Aleksei Oleinik. Ngannou is a different fighter then he was in their first matchup and I could see him knocking Lewis out cold.
The UFC’s entire selling point would be that Lewis won the first fight. Is that enough to sell a PPV? Stipe gave Ngannou the best fight of his career and by far the most entertaining. Why not run it back one more time? Stipe is 6-2 in UFC Title Fights. No one can boast that kind of dominance at pure Heavyweight. He has 14 wins at Heavyweight in the UFC, and 9 KOs at heavyweight in the UFC.
Stipe has been willing to fight during this “no fan quarantine” era. Jones has sat the bench. Why reward Jones without giving Stipe at least the option at a Trilogy? Do the right thing Dana White, Joe Silva, Elon Musk, or whomever will be making the matchups going forward.
