Francis Ngannou now targets UFC heavyweight title fight against Stipe Miocic, not Alistair Overeem

Francis Ngannou called for a Heavyweight showdown against Alistair Overeem after his fight against Junior dos Santos — which was set to go down this weekend (Sat., Sept. 9, 2017) at UFC 215 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada — was scrapped due to a failed drug test on the part of “Cigano.”

At the time, “Reem” wasn’t too interested, but did go on record to say that he wouldn’t mind throwing leather against “The Predator” at the end of the year. Ngannou, though, is ready to get back into the swing of things now, and he is currently targeting a title fight against division champion Stipe Miocic.

“After JDS was pulled, all the top 15 was booked. The only one available was Overeem and he said he was injured,” said Francis during a recent interview on The MMA Hour.

“I heard he’s ready for December or November. I don’t know. I’m thinking they can even give me Stipe right now, I want Stipe. I want to go for the belt, and after that, I can beat all these guys who will become contenders. But I take Stipe first. Since January I don’t have fight, so we need to go forward,” he added. “I deserve Stipe, I want Stipe.”

Ngannou was last seen beating the brakes off Andrei Arlovski in January at UFC on FOX 23 to score his ninth straight victory, fifth inside the Octagon.

Currently ranked at No. 4, the only man in front of Ngannou not named Overeem or Fabricio Werdum with no fight lined up (or an injury) is Cain Velasquez, who still doesn’t have a clear timetable for a return. So, it only makes sense for Stipe and Francis to hook ‘em up until the rest of the division handles its business.

I mean, it’s not like this is going to happen anytime soon, anyway.