White: Ngannou-Lewis likely for August, Miocic could face winner

UFC president Dana White has revealed a timeframe for the targeted heavyweight title fight between champion Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis.

White said Saturday the matchup will likely take place in "mid- or late" August, reaffirming that Lewis will get the next title shot instead of former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

"(Lewis is) the guy who deserves a shot at the heavyweight championship," White said at the UFC 262 postfight press conference, according to MMA Fighting. "Yes, we will get that fight done."

On Friday, White revealed a potential opponent for the winner of the upcoming title bout. He said it'd make sense to give former champion Stipe Miocic - who lost the belt to Ngannou in March - a title shot.

"Jon Jones made it very clear that he has no interest in fighting Stipe. ... What you do is you do the fight with Derrick Lewis and Francis, and then Stipe gets the winner," White told "The Jake Asman Show."

The UFC boss previously considered a No. 1 contender bout between Jones and Miocic with Ngannou targeted to defend his belt against Lewis. But Jones shut down that possibility.

Jones was originally expected to face the winner of Miocic-Ngannou, but over the past two months, White has frequently questioned Jones' desire to fight at heavyweight. However, Jones appears to be committed to the move, and the former 205-pound champ has said he wants a better deal to fight Ngannou.

White's stance is clear, though: He has no problem moving on without the pound-for-pound king.

"That's up to Jon Jones, whether he wants to fight or not," White said Saturday. "There (are) fights available, they're here. I'm going to keep making fights every weekend, doing fights. If Jon Jones wants to fight, he can. If he doesn't, he doesn't have to. Nobody's going to force Jon Jones to fight."

White added: "He can fight this summer or he can never fight again. That's up to him."