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Usman vs Burns Is Off… Who Will Headline UFC 256?

Kamaru Usman will not be defending his welterweight belt against Gilbert Burns at UFC 256. Who will step in to headline the Dec. 12th PPV?

ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported Monday that Kamaru Usman will need a little more time to get fully healthy for his third title defense. Amanda Nunes is slated to face Megan Anderson at UFC 256, serving as the co-main event in all likelihood.

Dana White and the matchmakers have a few options on the table for a new UFC 256 headliner. Similarly to UFC 251, when Masvidal replaced Burns, the new main event might actually raise viewership.

Lets take a look at the top options.

Option A: Stipe Miocic vs Francis Ngannou 2

This is the championship fight to make at heavyweight. The insertion of Jon Jones does not change that. Francis Ngannou has rattled off four straight first round finishes since dropping back-to-back bouts to Miocic and Lewis in 2018.

By the time Dec. 12th comes it will have been four months since Stipe edged out Daniel Cormier; cementing himself at the heavyweight GOAT. Meanwhile, Ngannou has been waiting for Stipe since May when he steamrolled Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

A few days ago on an interview with The Schmo, ‘The Predator’ expressed his interest in fighting Stipe at UFC 256.

Quite frankly, this bout will be booked as soon as the champ signs the dotted line. There’s no doubt that a Stipe/Ngannou rematch would generate more PPV numbers than the original main event.

Option B: Israel Adesanya vs Jared Cannonier/Robert Whittaker

‘Stylebender’ has repeatedly said how much he wants to fight Jared Cannonier, but not because he dislikes him. In fact, he has immense respect for ‘The Killa Gorilla’.

This fight may just get booked if Cannonier prevails against Whittaker next month.

That’s a big if though, and if Whittaker comes out on top, the intrigue level drops substantially. The ease in which Adesanya defeated Whittaker the first go-around will turn fans off to the rematch.

Either Whittaker or Cannonier makes sense, but the latter offers fresh blood versus a dominant champ. Adesanya is willing to fight again this year and the newly open slot at UFC 256 would work out nicely.

Option C: Israel Adesanya vs Jon Jones

Alright, this right here is the biggest fight the UFC could make at this point in time. What a better way to end this crazy year than to have Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones settle the score inside the cage once and for all?

There are a few caveats to this match-up though.

The first of which is what weight will it be fought at? The easy answer is 205lbs. It’s Jones’ normal weight class and it would be fairly easy for Izzy to move up. It would be a bit strange to have Jones return to light-heavyweight and fight a non-title fight; perhaps a catchweight?

The second caveat is the fact that ‘Stylebender’ has conveyed hid intentions of cleaning out the middleweight division prior to moving up to face Jones. He stayed true to that statement after beating Costa just over a week ago.

My gut all along has told me this fight does not happen until after Jones debuts at heavyweight and after Adesanya defends his belt two more times.

The recent back and forth on social media may speed up this process however. Dana White seems on board with making this fight happen as soon as possible.

Late 2021 seems more likely than Dec. 12th for this premiere match-up, but crazier things have happened.

Option D: Petr Yan vs Aljamain Sterling

This will likely be Dana’s last resort option, but it’s a lively option nonetheless. To quote Sean O’Malley, “This is a high-level fight” right here.

I’ve said this over and over, but Aljamain Sterling deserved to fight for the belt even prior to beating Cory Sandhagen back in June. That first round submission victory only cemented that point.

Sterling versus Yan doesn’t jump off the page necessarily, but it definitely gets the job done if nothing else gets booked.

The bantamweight division deserves main stage recognition because it features some of the most technical and of course, fastest mixed martial artists.

Hey, why not book this and one of the previous options?

Wild Card #1: Conor McGregor vs Dustin Porier 2

The ultimate wild card at this point in time is ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor. 2020 has been a wild year for the sport’s biggest draw.

Jan. 28th he beats Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds. Then he decides to retire on June 6th. Fast forward to Sept. 12th and he’s getting detained for ‘attempted sexual assault’.

Two things are for certain, his name has been in the news constantly and his return to the UFC is inevitable. When he returns the viewership will be massive.

Rumors of a Conor McGregor/Dustin Poirier rematch have been circulating lately, and Dec. 12th makes it entirely possible for it to occur this year.

Wild Card #2: Jorge Masvidal vs Anyone

The only other person in the UFC that’s as big a wild card as McGregor right now is Jorge Masvidal. Oh yeah, and people love to watch him.

The top option to fight ‘Gamebred’ right now is of course Colby Covington. Those two men know all too well how to promote a fight, and they could easily headline a PPV card as a non-title fight.

The other option is to run it back with Nate Diaz for the BMF belt. This idea has been thrown around quite a bit recently, but it’s not one I’m clamoring to see personally.

Leon Edwards versus Jorge Masvidal has to happen eventually, but I’m almost certain we will not see it this December.


Title fights are preferred for PPV events, but Conor McGregor and Jorge Masvidal have proven to be capable of carrying a PPV event with no official belt on the line.

The UFC has almost always spoils fans with a stacked card to round out the year and I don’t expect that to change this year. What I expect is for them to give fans a main event even bigger and badder than the one originally scheduled.

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