Even though Francis Ngannou is most deserving of a title shot in the UFC's Heavyweight division, he'd been made to wait in the queue behind Daniel Cormier, and Stipe Miocic, his number one challenger. Fair is love and war, even on the bureautic end, because the UFC is, after all, a business affected by matchmaking politics. There's an argument to be made that even if Cormier was ruled inactive for the next 8 months, Dana White wouldn't resort to fixing up a contest for the interim belt. Daniel Cormier is, by a fair margin, one of the biggest box office draws the promotion has going for it.
Needless to say, Francis Ngannou put his dominant striking ability on display over the weekend, with the first knockout of former titlist Junior Dos Santos, in... get this: 71 seconds of in-ring action. No staredown, just pure and applied pressure.
Ngannou invariably made his feelings known in the post-interview, when he said, "I feel very good. I am very happy now and then I hope the UFC is going to realize that I deserve the title shot right now," before staking his claim to the winner of the anticipated Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic matchup. "I deserve the winner of DC and Stipe" he proclaimed unapologetically.
Unfortunately for Ngannou, UFC head Dana White was less than committal when asked about Ngannou's contender status. “This fight has to play out first. Stipe and Cormier has to play out, who wins, how they come out of that fight, what does Cormier want to do next if he wins,” White explained to the media post-fight. "So there’s a lot of things that play into what’s next."
Is Dana White non-commital stance towards Ngannou fair? Is Daniel Cormier raring to get back in the octagon, or simply biding his time over his contractual agreement of three more fights before retirement? Hit us with your thoughts in the comment section below.
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