Stipe Miocic's next fight: When will the UFC heavyweight champion fight again?

Both Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier cemented their legacy in the UFC with their highly-celebrated trilogy, which marked the end of one of their careers.

Facing each other in the main event of UFC 252, Stipe Miocic came out victorious in his long-drawn rivalry with Daniel Cormier, which started back in July 2018. Daniel Cormier announced his retirement following the fight at the age of 41.

But now that the DC trilogy is behind Stipe Miocic, what lies ahead of the UFC Heavyweight Champion?

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Stipe Miocic's future in UFC

Stipe Miocic, apart from being a world class fighter, also serves his community as a paramedic and firefighter in Cleveland at Valley View Fire Department.

Having successfully defended his Heavyweight title four times now - three during his first reign and one in his second - Stipe Miocic holds the record of most title defenses in the UFC heavyweight division.

After Stipe Miocic successfully retained his belt against Daniel Cormier in August, Jon Jones announced that he was coming for the belt. He vacated the Light Heavyweight title he held for nearly a decade and was planning on moving up to Heavyweight.

Jon Jones has been training to gain the required mass as well, and posted a picture at 240 lbs. recently.

Another fighter who has eyes for Stipe Miocic's heavyweight belt is Francis Ngannou. The champ has already defeated Ngannou once before at UFC 220 with a dominant decision win.

But 'The Predator' has improved tremendously since his fight with Stipe Miocic, and has gone on to defeat the likes of Curtis Blaydes, Cain Valesquez, Junior dos Santos, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik - all of them via knockout.

The performances over the last couple of years has certainly earned him the top contender spot in the division.

There is no doubt that when Jon Jones is ready for heavyweight, he would want get a shot at the title and fight Stipe Miocic for the belt. But at the UFC 252 post-fight conference, UFC president Dana White made it clear that no one is cutting the line and jumping over - not even a former champion like Jon Jones.

"Francis[Ngannou] is definitely next[in line for a title shot]. I mean, you can’t jump over Francis. Francis has been out there destroying everybody, and if you look at how long ago it was that he got that title shot (against Miocic), he’s worked his way back. It belongs to Francis Ngannou. But yeah, Jon Jones going to heavyweight is very interesting."

Given that Dana White often has the last say in UFC, Stipe Miocic should probably defend his title next against Francis Ngannou, unless something changes between now and then. A Jon Jones fight makes more sense from a financial perspective for the UFC but that fight will always be an attraction.

No fight for any of these man has been official confirmed yet by UFC. Dana White has only verbally mentioned on TMZ that the Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou fight will definitely happen next but that too, not until next March.

"That fight won’t be ready till March. It could [happen in March] yeah, that’s the goal. We’ll see what happens."

Potentially, UFC 259: Stipe Miocic vs Francis Ngannou then?

Records are meant to be broken. I set the record defending my heavyweight title three consecutive times. I fully intend on being the same one to break that record. #SM pic.twitter.com/XSDj7Z1Hga

— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic) September 13, 2018