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The term “superfight” is thrown around loosely sometimes by media outlets hoping to gain clicks and promoters hoping to sell pay-per-view units, but UFC president Dana White and his team do consistently put amazing fights on the schedule that absolutely deserve that moniker. White revealed two more such fights could be on the way later this year during a recent podcast interview.
White told Mike Tyson and Zab Judah on the latest episode of the “Hotboxin with Mike Tyson” podcast that his company had huge things in store for 2021 and that the UFC was already eyeing two more massive showdowns.
The first superfight White has planned for later this year is ex-UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones taking on the winner of the upcoming rematch between UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou.
The other one is women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili moving up in weight to challenge women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.
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Next Fight for Jon Jones: ‘That’s the One’
It’s no secret that White wants Jones to fight the winner of UFC 260: Miocic vs. Ngannou 2.
Jones, 33, vacated his light heavyweight championship last year to move up to the heavyweight ranks. He’s one of the most dominant fighters in UFC history, and White says Jones will get an immediate title shot in his new weight class.
“Whoever wins [UFC 260) will fight Jon Jones at heavyweight. That’s the one everybody wants to see. Jon Jones’ first fight at heavyweight will be for the heavyweight title against one of those guys,” White said.
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Tyson asked White who Jones would have a better chance against, Miocic or Ngannou.
Miocic is considered by most to be the most accomplished UFC heavyweight champion ever, and some even believe him to be the best MMA heavyweight of all-time. Meanwhile, Ngannou is one of the scariest knockout machines ever seen inside the cage.
“I don’t know. It’s hard to deny Jones. The guy has been one of the best in the world since he started,” White said.
Still, White does wonder how Jones will fare against the bigger fighters in his new division.
“You guys know better than anybody, moving up the weight classes, especially against big boys like that, it’s tough to do,” White said.
Still, White believes Jones has what it takes to get the job done.
“He’s so well-rounded. He’s such a talented guy,” White said.
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Superfight for Zhang: ‘Everybody Wants to See’
White didn’t go into detail about all the big fights the UFC is planning for 2021, but the UFC boss did say there were tons of great showdowns on the horizon.
“A lot of the fights that I want to see, I’m working on to make happen,” White said.
But White did reveal that if women’s strawweight champ Zhang won her next fight, she would have the next chance to become UFC “champ champ”.
Zhang is scheduled to face former champion Rose Namajunas at UFC 261 on April 24.
“And if she beats Rose? Everybody wants to see her move up to fight Valentina Shevchenko. She’s another great fighter,” White said.
Of course, Shevchenko will need to win her fight, too. She’s set to defend her flyweight belt in the main event of UFC 261 against former women’s strawweight champ Jessica Andrade.
Both Zhang and Shevchenko are dominant MMA superstars who have gone back and forth on the women’s pound-for-pound list behind UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight champ Amanda Nunes.
If they both win their next fights at UFC 260, they’ll fight each other next.
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UFC Superfights Coming Soon: ‘Everybody Wants To See’