Francis Ngannou eyes Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem fights on path to UFC title shot

Now that one rising Heavyweight prospect, Derrick Lewis, received his fight against a longtime veteran in Mark Hunt -- which is slated for UFC 110 on June 10, 2017 in New Zealand — Francis Ngannou wants his own.

The heavy-handed Cameroonian says he is ready to get back into the swing of things, and he wants to face someone who will get him closer to the 265-pound strap.

And he’s got a few names in mind.

“For sure, I want to fight Overeem too,” he told MMAjunkie. “When I said I wanted to fight Cain before, they gave (Overeem to) Mark Hunt. I said I wanted to fight Overeem, Cain Velasquez or Junior Dos Santos.”

Interestingly enough, Overeem knocked out the aforementioned Hunt at UFC 209 to get back into the win column (see it again here).

Ngannou — who has won nine in a row including five inside the Octagon — recently defeated Andrei Arlovski via first-round knockout. While impressive, he will likely need another big-time win in order to get into the title picture. For his part, he doesn’t mind putting in the work, even if it means defeating former champions such as Cain Velasquez or Fabricio Werdum

“Even Werdum, he is free now,” said Francis. “I just want someone to fight who can give me access to the title shot.”

Of course, there is no telling when Cain will return to the Octagon based on this. Meanwhile, Werdum recently stated that he is still actively training after his fight against Ben Rothwell — which was set for UFC 211 on May 13 — was cancelled after “Big Ben” was notified of a potential United States Anti-Doping (USADA) violation.

A last-minute title fight is in “Vai Cavalo’s” sights, but a showdown against Francis wouldn’t be a bad idea, either.

Still, whatever route the promotion decides to go should provide fight fans with an entertaining scrap, as the heavyweight division currently offers plenty of options for intriguing matchups.

Care to offer up your own suggestions?