UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic has been on a tear through the division for the past two years. That being said, the fighter has only made a single appearance inside the octagon for the year of 2017. That in mind, it begs the question. Where is Stipe Miocic?
Miocic fought three times in 2016, earning first round finishes over Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum and Andrei Arlovski. Yet, the only thing the champion has done inside the octagon in 2017 is avenge his loss to Junior dos Santos with his fourth consecutive first round finish.
Of course, Miocic only fought once in 2015. In 2014, the fighter went inside the octagon three times. If the pattern holds, perhaps fight fans will get three octagon performances out of the heavyweight champion in 2018. That in mind, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is already booking fights for the promotion’s January cards and Miocic has no scheduled match ups.
Miocic has a few options when it comes to potential opponents. Alistair Overeem faced off against the champion back at UFC 203 and lost, but is currently on a two fight winning streak. Francis Ngannou has yet to be defeated under the UFC banner and is toting a stunning nine fight winning streak. Ngannou and Overeem will square off for division dominance at December’s UFC 218. Of course, there is also Derrick Lewis.
Lewis is coming off of a loss to Mark Hunt, but the fighter was previously on one of the most impressive winning streaks among active heavyweights. Now Lewis has no current announced fights, making the contender another possibility for the champion.
While Stipe Miocic’s next booked fight remains in question, fight fans will simply have to hope that the heavyweight champion lands a fight card soon.
