Morning Report: Dana White speaks on the heavyweight division after UFC 252, says Francis Ngannou is ‘next in… – MMA Fighting

This weekend, Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier will do battle one last time to determine not only the heavyweight champion of the world but also the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time. And though that fight is far from a foregone conclusion, what does appear to be set in stone is the next heavyweight title fight after this one: Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou II.

In the lead up to UFC 252, Daniel Cormier has made it clear that this will be his final professional fight, meaning that if ‘DC’ wins the title, he will end up exiting the sport on top and vacating the belt. Should this comes to pass, UFC President Dana White says that Miocic’s body of work would certainly qualify him to be one of the two competitors for the vacant title.

“It probably does. It would be hard to deny Stipe,” White told The Schmo. “We’re saying that this Saturday, the greatest heavyweight ever is the winner of this fight, so to say he’s not good enough for another title fight for the vacant title would be crazy.”

That sounds like good news for Miocic who is in somewhat of a no-lose situation. Should Miocic beat Cormier on Saturday, he would obviously still be champion and thus continue his reign, and should he lose, he still gets to get right back in there. And either way, according to White, Miocic’s opponent for the next title fight will be a familiar foe, Francis Ngannou.

“Francis is next in line,” White said. “Again, we’ll see what happens on Saturday and then yeah, Francis is the guy.”

So all of this should lead to the inevitable conclusion that Miocic-Ngannou II is next up for the heavyweight division. Unless, of course, Cormier doesn’t retire. And though Cormier has been adamant that he’d like to go out on top, speaking with ESPN after the UFC 252 press conference, White is equally as convinced that this will not be the last we see of DC.

“No, it’s not (Cormier’s last fight),” White told ESPN. “No, it’s not. It’s obviously going to depend on how the fight plays out on Saturday night. If Cormier wins in spectacular fashion, this will not be his last fight. And knowing him the way that I do, if he loses, then it will be, ‘I can’t go out like this.’

“You know me: When people start talk about retiring, I think they should. Stipe, who people were saying is probably going to retire after this, too, but he squashed that tonight, I don’t think either one of them should retire. They’re two of the best in the world, and they still have a lot left in them. But we’ll see. We’ll see how the fight goes on Saturday.”

UFC 252 takes place this Saturday at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev.

Retirement. Stipe Miocic: ‘I think about retirement after every fight,’ but for now, ‘I’m happy’.

Hair. Sean O’Malley explains why he colored his hair like the Ecuadorian flag, ‘Chito’ Vera reacts.

Dance. Valerie Loureda opens up about difficult road that led to TKO win, viral dance celebration at Bellator 243.

Apprentice. ONE Championship announces Demetrious Johnson, Angela Lee, Sage Northcutt, for special edition of ‘The Apprentice’.

Travel. Dana White: Travel issues delaying Khamzat Chimaev’s return.

What the Heck, including a cameo by Spiderman.

UFC 252 press conference.

Embedded 4.

The history of the UFC heavyweight title.

Fighters pick UFC 252.

The MMA Vivisection. Breaking down the biggest fights at UFC 252.

DC is now the deadliest weapon on the planet.

Opinion.

Celebrating the contract extension.

Request.

Talking trash.

Cold world.

Belal Muhammad is great.

No idea why he did this but Forrest tweeted out an old interview clip that’s probably the best one in MMA history.

Ovince Saint Preux (24-14) vs. Alonzo Menifield (9-1); UFC Fight Night, Aug. 22.

Mohammed Usman (6-1) vs. Terrance Hodges (2-6); Titan FC 63, Aug. 28.

Cynthia Calvillo (9-1-1) vs. Lauren Murphy (13-4); UFC 254, Oct. 24.

Sarah Moras (6-6) vs. Vanessa Melo (10-8); UFC Fight Night, Nov. 7.

Thanks for reading, enjoy the fights, and see y’all on Monday.

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let him know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram, add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting, and like us on Facebook.