UFC on ESPN 3 Post-Mortem: ‘The Predator’ Wants Next

The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 239 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday touched down in Minneapolis for the first time since October 2012, as it invaded the Target Center with UFC on ESPN 3 -- an event headlined by a probable heavyweight title eliminator between former champion Junior dos Santos and Francis Ngannou.

It did not go well for the Brazilian, as Ngannou delivered a first-round technical knockout. The 71-second victory kept Ngannou’s finishing rate at 100 percent and extended his winning streak to three fights, with all three of them coming via stoppage inside one round. Immediately after he cut down dos Santos, the Cameroon-born Frenchman sought out UFC President Dana White, who was seated cageside, and made his case for another championship opportunity.

“I told him I deserved the title shot,” Ngannou said during the ESPN+ post-fight show. “I need some credit now in the division. He said we will soon talk. I asked him if that means yes.”

If Ngannou gets his chance at the heavyweight crown, he will await the winner of the forthcoming UFC 241 main event between current titleholder Daniel Cormier and former champion Stipe Miocic on Aug. 17. Miocic defeated “The Predator” at UFC 220 in 2018, and while Ngannou wants his shot at revenge, he does not have a preference regarding who he faces next.

“Either way, I got to fight Stipe back,” he said. “This thing has to go back. Obviously, I would like to fight ‘DC,’ too. It would be an honor for me to fight him before his retirement. Either way, it is good for me.”

BENAVIDEZ STAKES CLAIM AT 125

Longtime flyweight standout Joseph Benavidez defeated Jussier Formiga for the second time in as many meetings in the co-headliner. The victory pulled the Xtreme Couture rep into a tie with Demetrious Johnson for first on the UFC’s all-time list for wins by a flyweight. On a three-fight tear, Benavidez has designs on challenging Henry Cejudo -- a man he defeated in December 2016 -- for the 125-pound championship sometime in 2020.

“It’s the only fight to make,” Benavidez said during the post-fight press conference. “You beat the No. 1 guy like I just did for the second time in a row and you have a win over the champion … the guy you all call ‘Triple C,’ I’m the last guy to beat him. I’m the only one [other than Johnson] to beat him. We have history. Our first fight was incredible. We went toe to toe for 15 minutes. People were wishing the fight was 25 minutes. Here’s our chance to do it.”

It remains unclear where Cejudo will fight once he recovers from shoulder surgery, as he holds UFC titles in both the flyweight and bantamweight divisions. While Benavidez cemented his claim as the top contender at 125 pounds, Aljamain Sterling appears to be on a short list of potential challengers at bantamweight. However, the “Funk Master” made a surprising revelation on Twitter.

“If I lost the first crack at @HenryCejudo to @JoeJitsu, I wouldn’t be mad at all,” he wrote. “Joey B is [a] legend of the game and with that performance, it’s tough to argue who should get the first chance to dethrone the King.”

ON A MISSION TO ‘CHANGE THE WORLD’

Jared Gordon took a unanimous decision from Dan Moret, as the two lightweights locked horns on the undercard in one of the card’s more competitive bouts. However, instead of discussing his back-and-forth battle with Moret, the former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder continued to focus on his mission to “change the world.”

“I’m pretty upset about my performance, but the real reason I’m here is not to win fights,” Gordon said. “Three and a half years ago, I was shooting heroin in a motel in Queens, New York. I know there are plenty of people in here who definitely have an addiction problem. I’m here for you guys: the sexual assault victims, the people that are still using and the people in recovery. I love you all, and this is why I fight.”

The win snapped a two-fight losing streak for Gordon, who improved to 3-2 in the UFC. He hopes with each victory he can continue to share his remarkable story of overcoming demons -- they include his being a drug addict and a victim of sexual abuse -- with the public.

“I was praying to God that I would win, so I would get the platform,” Gordon said. “If I can help one person, that is all that matters. I believe I can help a lot more, though.”

The 30-year-old Gordon already has his sights set on where he wants to fight next: UFC 244 on Nov. 2 in his native New York.

“Madison Square Garden is coming up,” he said. “My grandfather fought at Madison Square Garden. I was born in Manhattan, [and] I trained at [the Renzo Gracie Academy] for seven years. I have been in Manhattan my whole life. My grandparents grew up in Harlem. My mother grew up in Manhattan. I lived in Queens. I used to shoot heroin down the street from Madison Square Garden. On the regular, I would go in the bathroom of a diner and shoot my dope. I would train, fight and win and stare at MSG saying, ‘Maybe one day.’ Well, here I am. It’s my time.”