Report: UFC targeting Francis Ngannou vs. Junior dos Santos for August

Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos is reportedly looking at a fairly quick turnaround for his next fight.

Only a couple of weeks removed from his TKO loss to Stipe Miocic, dos Santos is being targeted for an August matchup against rising star Francis Ngannou, per MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani.

Dos Santos (18-5) tried to regain the heavyweight belt back against Miocic at UFC 211, but was disposed of in just 142 seconds. He has not won consecutive bouts in five years and hasn’t fought twice in a calendar year since 2013. JDS’ last win was a dominant five-round showing against Ben Rothwell at UFC Zagreb in April.

Ngannou (10-1) is a perfect 5-0 inside the Octagon, including a 92-second TKO victory over Andrei Arlovski back in January. The Frenchman has a finishing rate of 100%, and has never been to a third round. Recently, the 30-year-old announced his permanent move to Las Vegas, although it’s not yet known which camp (or camps) he’ll join.

The current UFC heavyweight rankings have JDS at #4 and Ngannou at #5.

UFC 215 doesn’t have a confirmed venue but it looks like it’ll be KeyArena in Seattle, Washington, with flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson as part of the event.