White: Miocic to face Jones-Gane winner; UFC will 'never' re-sign Ngannou

UFC president Dana White shed some light on the future of the heavyweight division Friday evening.

White said Stipe Miocic will "absolutely" be the first to challenge the winner between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane, who are scheduled to meet for the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285 on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Miocic is a former two-time champion and widely considered the greatest heavyweight in UFC history. He hasn't fought since losing the title to Francis Ngannou in March 2021. Miocic will be in attendance for Jones-Gane at T-Mobile Arena.

Sergei Pavlovich is the official backup fighter for the UFC 285 main event, but he's scheduled to headline a UFC Fight Night card on April 22 against fellow top contender Curtis Blaydes.

Jones and Gane are competing for the heavyweight belt left vacant by Ngannou, who departed the UFC as a free agent earlier this year. White was adamant that the promotion will never bring Ngannou back.

"We negotiated with him for years," White said. "It's over. ... He'll never be in the UFC again."

He added: "I never say never, but I'll give you a never on that one. We tried."

Ngannou and the UFC failed to come to terms on a new deal after "The Predator" fought out his contract in a January 2022 title unification bout against Gane. Ngannou said earlier this week he plans to compete in boxing this summer.