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Francis Ngannou and Renan Ferreira | Jose Peñuela, PFL Francis Ngannou left no doubt that he’s still one of the best heavyweights in the world. The question is what will he do for his next act? After a resounding knockout of Renan Ferreira in the PFL Battle of the Giants main event, Ngannou appears to have numerous options ahead of him once again, with the MMA community welcoming him back with open arms and the boxing world still beckoning. Whatever the former UFC champion decides to do for his next fight, you can be sure everyone will be watching. On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss the possibilities for Ngannou after his emotional return to the cage. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for UFC Vegas 99 winner Anthony Hernandez following a dominant win over Michel Pereira, bantamweight veteran Rob Font after a streak-busting performance, plus main card winners Charles Johnson, Cameron Smotherman, Darren Elkins, and more. Audio-only versions of the podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Top ranked strawweight contender Tatiana Suarez will have to wait until 2025 to make her return after she was forced out of her upcoming fight against Virna Jandiroba, which was scheduled for UFC 310 on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas. Sources told MMA Fighting on Monday that Suarez is dealing with a health issue that will prevent her from competing in December in what was expected to be a No. 1 contender’s bout at 115 pounds. MMA Melotto first reported the news. It’s an unfortunate setback for Suarez, who has long been considered a popular pick as a future champion in the UFC but health problems have continued to plague her career. After she dispatched Nina Nunes back in 2019, Suarez appeared on the cusp of title contention but injuries kept her sidelined for more than three years. When she finally returned to action, Suarez jumped right back into the deep end of the waters with a submission win over Montana De La Rosa at flyweight and then finishing former UFC champion Jessica Andrade to earn a Performance of the Night bonus back in August 2023. Suarez was then scheduled to face Amanda Lemos in February but an injury knocked her out of that matchup before she was then set to clash with Jandiroba in December. Sadly now that fight has also been cancelled. There’s no word yet on how long Suarez is expected to be sidelined after falling out of her upcoming fight in December. It’s unclear if Jandiroba plans to remain on the UFC 310 card against a new opponent or potentially wait for a future date to compete again.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic have accomplished a lot in their UFC careers, which is a pivotal feature of the UFC 309 poster. The UFC dropped the new poster on Monday, which features headliners Jones, the heavyweight champion, and former titleholder and challenger Stipe Miocic. The event takes place Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Check out the poster below. Back in the BIG APPLE! @JonnyBones vs @StipeMiocic[ #UFC309 LIVE on @ESPNPlus PPV | 10pmET/7pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/5TQiYDZO6K— UFC (@ufc) October 21, 2024 The matchup was initially set for UFC 295 this past November, but Jones withdrew due to injury. “Bones” makes his first appearance in 20 months since capturing the heavyweight strap with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 285 in March 2023. The layoff is even longer for Miocic, who returns to the octagon for the first time since losing the heavyweight title to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 in March 2021. Miocic seeks his first win in over four years. In the co-main event, Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler meet for the second time in a five-round lightweight contest. Check out the current UFC 309 lineup below. Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic - heavyweight title fight Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva Bo Nickal vs. Paul Craig Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders Nikita Krylov vs. Azamat Murzakanov Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee Jim Miller vs. Damon Jackson Mickey Gall vs. Ramiz Brahimaj Bassil Hafez vs. Oban Elliott Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura Charlie Campbell vs. Mauricio Ruffy Lucas Almeida vs. David Onama

Bagher Faraji and Idris Abdurashitov | @Grabaka_Hitman, Twitter ONE Championship prospect Idris Abdurashitov scored a vicious head kick knockout over the weekend but there was only one problem — he did it in a boxing match. The unbelievable footage that surfaced from the weekend shows Abdurashitov engaged in a boxing match with Bagher Faraji, an Iranian boxer with a 1-3 record overall, when the head kick is delivered to end the fight. Undefeated ONE featherweight Idris Abdurashitov was disqualified yesterday for knocking out his opponent (Bagher Faraji) with a head kick during a boxing match. pic.twitter.com/vxBbRPJXi9— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) October 21, 2024 It was a wild exchange with Abdurashitov uncorking the head kick at the end of the sequence and Faraji immediately crumbling to the canvas after. Abdurashitov was disqualified for his actions, but that didn’t stop him from posting the clip on his Instagram page to highlight the knockout. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Idris Abdurashidov (@idris_abdurashidov) The abysmal decision to throw the head kick adds a rather significant black mark on what was starting out as a promising résumé in MMA for Abdurashitov after he went 4-0 to start his career, including a stoppage in in his ONE Championship debut in September.

Bruno Silva and Chris Weidman | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Bruno Silva is still mad at Chris Weidman for what happened in their fight, and hopes to get a chance to meet him inside the cage again. Weidman was awarded the TKO victory over “Blindado” at UFC Atlantic City this past March, a result that was later overturned to a technical decision when replay showed that Silva went down due to eye pokes, not punches. Silva filed an appeal to overturn it to a no-contest instead, but the commission denied his request. Silva said he temporarily “lost 30 percent of my vision in one of the eyes” due to the foul, and tried to convince UFC matchmakers to book an immediate rematch. Instead, the Brazilian returns against Ismail Naurdiev at Saturday’s UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi, while Weidman meets Eryk Anders on Nov. 16 at UFC 309. “We were asking for this fight,” Silva said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “When I go to bed at night, he’s the opponent I hate the most. I’ve fought many people, I have more than 30 MMA fights, but every time I think of him and Cormier, I feel anger.” Weidman was part of the UFC 300 weigh-in show alongside Daniel Cormier, Laura Sanko and Dan Hellie, who made fun of the recent eye poke situation. Laura Sanko, Dan Hellie, Chris Weidman and Daniel Cormier “[Weidman] is fighting a month after me, and my focus is on knocking this guy [Naurdiev], and then then I’m calling him out on the mic,” Silva said. “I could ask for other opponents, but I like to deal with things my way. He’s fighting next month, and I have a score to settle with him. It’s personal. I’ll ask the UFC, and I hope they send him my way. He’s not on a great run, but he has a big name. He’s a former champion, and it brings good media. If we both win, maybe that’s interesting for the UFC. I want that fight back. But if that’s something that’s gonna slow me down, f*ck that dude.” Days after the controversial bout, Weidman said Silva overreacted to the eye pokes and celebrated getting back to the win column following a two-fight skid. Silva, on the other hand, has now lost three straight in the UFC with previous defeats to Brendan Allen and Shara Magomedov. “My biggest mistake was that I respected Chris Weidman too much, and I’ll live with that for the rest of my life,” Silva said. “He deserved no respect. Even [coach Andre] Dida said I respected him way too much. The fight was over, we spoke in the locker room because I didn’t want any bad vibe. And then he grabs the mic and starts talking crap, him and Cormier. My God. Cormier, talk about an insufferable person.” Months later, Combat Sports Anti-Doping announced that Silva received a six-month suspension but what was a “likely unintentional” anti-doping violation for a metabolite of drostanolone. Silva had already been suspended before, a two-year ban imposed by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in 2020. Very interesting… 2nd failure in his career… likely im told that could be from microdosing anabolics as well ‍♂️! https://t.co/zpeDIZ9oVk— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) August 10, 2024 “And when the doping [news] came, brother, what am I going to say?” Silva continued. “Let’s suppose you don’t know me and hear I tested positive. How am I going to defend myself? The full story is out there, but people only read the headline. The crap he said, that pisses me off, but how am I going to say anything? He already doesn’t respect anybody, and now I’m [testing] positive. I stayed quiet. “Life will get back at him, like it did when he made fun of Anderson Silva and then broke his leg. He reaps what he sows. Unfortunately, I didn’t beat him. If I knock him out, then there’s no more argument. But he defeated me that way and I can’t say anything. It bothers me a lot, man. Sometimes I can’t believe people can be so disrespectful, but there’s always bad people out there.” “Blindado” admitted that a longer suspension would have led to his retirement from the sport, and thanked the UFC and the in-house doping agency for “being on my side and believing me.” Silva remained active during the suspension, competing in three grappling matches and an amateur boxing bout in his gym in Curitiba, Brazil, and now turns his focus back to the UFC. “I feel light going into this fight,” Silva said. “I’ve left wins and losses in the past and nothing will interfere. I’m surrounded by good people, and I’m ready to be back. If someone asks me how motivated I am, I say motivation is bullsh*t. What I feel right now is freedom to go there and fight. I have nothing to prove to anyone. My only goal is to go there and submit him, beat the crap out of him, knock him out, or win by points. I’m not coming back from Abu Dhabi without the win, and my team happy on the plane.”