It appears that there is a new challenger in line for The Silencer.

Title contender Francis Ngannou suffered a decision loss to UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 220 on Saturday night at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on pay-per-view. The preliminary card aired on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Daniel Cormier vs. Volkan Oezdemir for the light heavyweight title served as the co-main event.

Rounding out the five bout main card was Shane Burgos vs. Calvin Kattar in a featherweight bout, Francimar Barroso vs. Gian Villante in a light heavyweight bout, and Thomas Almeida vs. Rob Font in a bantamweight bout.

This leads us to former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum, who attended the event. For months now, the former champ has been trying to get himself back in title contention and now he sees an opening.

According to Werdum, if he is able to secure a title fight then he will become champion and even predicted that it would happen this year.

“The UFC said nothing yet, but I think I’m the next one,” Werdum told reporters backstage (transcript courtesy of MMA Junkie). “I deserve this. Not just because of my last fights. But (I’ve been fighting) for 20 years.

I’ve (been fighting) for a long. I think I deserve it. My goal is to put one more belt on my wall. I have two. The third one (is) coming, for sure.”

“100 percent, I will be a champion this year again …” Werdum said. “I know Stipe Miocic. I respect him. I like him. He doesn’t say nothing like bad things. He’s a nice guy, for sure. But, 100 percent: When I fought him before, I (lost). I lost (to) myself. I lost (to) me. Because of a lot of things. This time – 100 percent, he’s a good fighter. But 100 percent, I beat him. I saw this today. I’m feeling this.”

“This year, 2018, I want to see everything,” Werdum said. “I want to train a lot to be a champion again. I don’t just fight for fighting. I’ve proved it before. I got (the title) two times. The first time, vs. Mark Hunt, was like an interim belt. But, for me, it’s the same thing.”

“Well… We’ll see what happens,” White said. “I don’t make fights the night of the fight. I’m sure that’s how he feels and we’ll see how this thing plays out.”