BS Meter on Latest Combat Sports Rumors

2022 is off and running in the combat sports business.

The UFC is days away from its second monthly pay-per-view show of the year, and boxing has a full slate of open dates just waiting for signed contracts from its highest-profile superstars.

That means it's high time for die-hards to look at the bigger picture.

Who'll fight next? What titles will be at stake? Will any more non-combat stars climb into the fray?

In B/R combat sports team parlance, it can only mean one thing: It's BS Meter time!

We got together to scan the up-to-the-minute rumors across MMA and boxing in order to apply a tag indicating how close each suggestion is to actually happening.

Read on to see what we came up with, and let us know how we did with a line or two in the comments.

The answer changes each time the question is posed.

But the idea that Francis Ngannou has made his last octagonal appearance hasn't gone away.

That Dana White did not wrap the belt around the heavyweight king's waist after last month's defeat of Ciryl Gane or Ngannou's assertion that the UFC sent an email threatening a lawsuit following apparent dialogue between the champ's team and Jake Paul's manager hasn't helped the change the narrative.

Paul has recently emerged as UFC public enemy No. 1, lambasting White about fighter pay and goading him to release fighters from contracts to meet him in a boxing ring.

Ngannou has spoken openly about the idea of stepping into the ring himself, and boxing's own heavyweight king Tyson Fury went public with a suggestion that the Cameroonian meet him in a big-man showdown.

BS Meter: Not BS

Put it all together, and it seems—at least for the moment—that "The Predator" has gotten his last Bruce Buffer fist bump.

So, given Ngannou's promotional logjam—not to mention the knee injury that'll keep him on the shelf for a while—it's no surprise that Jon Jones is looking to alter plans as well.

The longtime 205-pound champ decided months ago that he'd climb the ladder to try his luck with the UFC's heavyweights, presumably with an eye on Ngannou's championship belt.

Most recently, though, he's turned his attention to the man from whom the current champ took the title.

For anyone who's forgotten, that's Stipe Miocic.

The Cleveland-area fireman met Ngannou twice over a five-fight stretch from 2018 to 2021, defeating him by unanimous decision at UFC 220 in Boston before losing by a vicious second-round knockout at UFC 260 in Las Vegas last March.

"The greatest heavyweight of all-time versus the greatest light heavyweight," Jones tweeted. "Who wants to see it? I'm game."

Incidentally, Miocic's three fights between the Ngannou dates were with Daniel Cormier, to whom he lost the first bout before winning two straight to regain then retain his crown. 

Cormier has his own history with Jones, losing by decision and KO at light heavyweight, though the second result was overturned when Jones failed a post-fight drug test.

The now-retired dual champ signed off on a potential Jones-Miocic get-together during a recent edition of his DC & RC show for ESPN.

"I think you put those two together, and then no matter who wins, when Francis comes back, you have a massive fight waiting for you," he said.

BS Meter: Not BS

Miocic gets a spotlight date. Jones gets a heavyweight test. And White gets some time to work out an end game with Ngannou, or, if not, a new champion with instant name recognition.

It's the new boxing reality.

Rather than significant fights between active fighters, the needle seems to move the most when it comes to the possibility of long-retired ex-champions meeting guys with nary a ring record to speak of.

In this case, it's Mike Tyson and the aforementioned Jake Paul.

"Iron Mike" last fought professionally in 2005 and came back for a money-making exhibition with fellow old-timer Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020 that generated better than 1.6 million pay-per-view buys.

Meanwhile, Paul, known among his peers as "The Problem Child," has become the undisputed champion of social media stars-turned-fighters, racking up millions of buys of his own in 2021 with defeats of ex-UFC contender Ben Askren and ex-UFC champion Tyron Woodley (twice).

His viral KO of ex-NBA player Nate Robinson was on the Tyson-Jones undercard.

A "business associate" of Tyson's told The Sun in mid-January that the combatants had made a "verbal deal" to get together in a fight that could generate nearly $50 million from live gate and pay-per-view proceeds. Both Tyson and Paul have since dismissed the suggestion as idle chatter.

BS Meter: BS

Tyson isn't into it, and he's 55 years old. Paul has other options. This one is just clickbait.

Back in November, it sounded pretty cool.

Canelo Alvarez's trainer, Eddy Reynoso, went to the WBC convention to lobby for his man to get the sanctioning body's blessing for a would-be challenge of its cruiserweight champion, Ilunga Makabu.

Alvarez is the undisputed champion at 168 pounds, has held titles at 154, 160 and 175 pounds and is the biggest pay-per-view draw in the sport, meaning the novelty of a Makabu fight alone would generate cash.

Makabu has been a pro since 2008 and a champion since 2020 and made his United States debut last month with a split-decision win over challenger Thabiso Mchunu on a Don King show in Warren, Ohio.

But the more the idea has lingered, the less interesting it's gotten.

Though Makabu would have significant edges in height (6' to 5'8"), reach (74" to 70.5") and weight—he last fought at 197 pounds while Alvarez last fought at 168—the disparity in skill level is so pronounced in the smaller man's favor that the intrigue level seems to plummet.

BS Meter: BS

Interesting? Sure. Would it sell? Probably. But Makabu isn't well-known to anyone beyond his entourage, so expect Alvarez to fill his Cinco de Mayo dance card with a higher-profile foe at 168 or 175.

Here's another that changes from day to day and podcast to podcast.

As Deontay Wilder tumbled face-first to the canvas to conclude his trilogy with Fury in October, it seemed like his run as a worthwhile, contending fighter was done.

Still, with a record of 42-0 with 41 KOs against opponents other than Fury, it's no surprise that the "Bronze Bomber" eventually shook off the post-fight trauma and promised a renewed run at relevance.

"For me, this is not it, this is just the beginning," he said on fiancee Telli Swift's podcast, Telli Talks.

"Best is yet to come for me. ... I do still have goals in the sport, that's why I still have love for it, and I'm looking to accomplish the goals set out that I still have left."

A subsequent appearance on comedian Kevin Hart's show—Cold as Balls—however, yielded a different response.

"I have accomplished my goals in this sport," he said. "I told my daughter when she was one years old that I'd be a champion, and I'd be able to support her beyond her belief. And I've done that over. It's a lot of things that I've accomplished that I don't feel I have to prove to anyone because I've already proved everything.

"Should I push forward? Give it a go one more time? Or should I just retire and focus on the other things that I already have, other things that I want to get into?"

BS Meter: Not BS

Wilder said it himself. He's accomplished all his goals. Add in the fact that he's set for life financially, is 36 years old and has a family with whom to spend time, and it seems logical to find a less-painful hobby.