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Top heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou has responded to UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic after the latter said that he is looking forward to some new challenges inside the Octagon, hinting at the fact that he might choose to defend his title against Jon Jones. (h/t BJ Penn.com)
UFC president Dana White earlier announced that Francis Ngannou was next in line for a title shot against Miocic following the latter's trilogy fight win over Daniel Cormier at UFC 252. However, things changed when former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones entered the mix. Jones vacated his belt and announced that he is moving up to heavyweight. Even White later changed his stance and said that Jon Jones might be granted an immediate title shot at heavyweight.
In a recent question and answer session on his Instagram, Stipe Miocic revealed that he isn’t interested in the rematch against Francis Ngannou at the moment, and is looking for a fresh challenge for his next fight.
“Francis isn’t exciting to me, already put on a 25 minute clinic on how to beat him. Want a new challenge! Would love to box,” Miocic wrote.
Francis Ngannou took notice of Miocic's comments and is clearly not happy at the fact that Jones might be allowed to jump the queue over him. Francis Ngannou then took to his own Twitter to respond to the comments made by Miocic.
Is this your way of avoiding me?
Francis Ngannou undoubtedly deserves the chance to compete for the UFC heavyweight title. Ngannou has won his last four fights by knockout over big names and top contenders like Curtis Blaydes, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Cain Velasquez, and Junior dos Santos.
However, given the fact that the Jones vs. Miocic is the more lucrative fight in terms of revenue, there is a chance that Francis Ngannou may be denied the next title shot.
