The arrival of the new year is hardly the only countdown on the horizon.
Next month, Francis Ngannou steps back into the Octagon against Ciryl Gane to headline UFC 270. This will be the first time in the cage for Ngannou since slaying Stipe Miocic last March, forcefully taking his place as UFC heavyweight champion.
More than nine months will have passed between fights by the time Ngannou returns to fight, and life in the cage was not static during his absence. Since Ngannou last fought, Gane extended his undefeated streak in a convincing win against Alexander Volkov in June, then claimed the interim heavyweight title with a shellacking against Derrick Lewis not even two months later.