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Return Of The King?

Miocic meets with UFC in September to work out title deal

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Former UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic says that he has a meeting planned with UFC execs, and says he’s confident that he’ll be getting another shot at the title once that meeting concludes.

“We’re going to have a sit down here in September with Dana,” Miocic told reporters. “We’ll figure it out from there. … We’ll hopefully figure that out in the next month. We’ll get there. Dana has been texting me and everything is in negotiations.”

The former champ hasn’t fought since his devastating title loss to Francis Ngannou back in March, but now that his wife has given birth to their second child, the 39-year-old firefighter from Ohio is looking to get back into the octagon and take back the belt that he believes is rightfully his.

Of course, that will be no easy task, and there are plenty of top-tier contenders who are already in the running ahead of him. France’s Cyril Gane is currently in possession of the heavyweight division’s interim title after defeating Derek Lewis on August 7, meaning that Gane is first in line to take on Ngannou in the future.

As for who, exactly, Miocic would need to fight first in order to put himself in the running for the title, that much is still unclear. For Miocic, however, the question of who doesn’t seem to matter, although he does admit that he would like to go head-to-head with UFC legend Jon Jones at some point.

“I’ll fight anyone,” Miocic told reporters. “I’ve said that from Day One. I’ll fight anyone. … I’ll fight anyone they put in front of me, but [Jones is] what you aim for, one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters of all time. He’d be a great athlete to have on my resume.”

Should Miocic manage to rise from the ashes and reclaim his title after his losing it early this year, it would not be his first time doing so. Miocic formerly lost his heavyweight title to Daniel Cormier in 2018, only to surge back and reclaim it the following year at UFC 241. It also wouldn’t be the first time Miocic beat Ngannou either – he defended his title against Ngannou at UFC 220 in 2018, defeating the Cameroonian phenom via a unanimous decision.

Should Dana White and the UFC agree to give Miocic another shot at the belt, it would make the next bout the stuff of legend – a trilogy bout between two of the best to have ever stepped into the octagon. Whether or not the UFC will agree to it, however, still remains to be seen.

Photo via UFC.com

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