Here's some good news for MMA fans:

Your 1,001-day national nightmare is over.

The widely regarded king of the sport's biggest division, Francis Ngannou, returned to the cage on Saturday night in Saudi Arabia and did so in style with a first-round finish of 6'8" Brazilian behemoth Renan Ferreira at The Mayadeen in Riyadh.

It was Ngannou's first appearance in his most familiar combat endeavor since January 22, 2022, when he beat Ciryl Gane over five rounds in what turned out to be his last defense of the UFC's heavyweight title before he parted ways with the promotion a year later.

He'd since made two trips into the professional boxing space, losing a narrow decision to then-heavyweight champion Tyson Fury over 10 rounds before being stopped violently in two rounds by former two-time titleholder Anthony Joshua.

The latter result prompted his debut with the Professional Fighters League, a UFC rival with whom Ngannou signed a deal in May 2023 that allowed him to also compete in boxing, which had been a sticking point with UFC boss Dana White. Ferreira was PFL's heavyweight champion for 2023 after winning the final fight of its regular season/playoff tournament.

The B/R combat team celebrated "The Predator's" return by compiling a list of would-be opponents who could and probably will get the next date opposite Ngannou, alongside who we'd like it to be and a selection that could test the limits of the Internet as we know it.

Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought in the comments.

Who It Could Be: Deontay Wilder

Some habits are harder to break than others.

Though Ngannou's itch for the boxing ring seemed decisively scratched in the violent loss to Joshua in March, he's since said that he's not willing to let that result be his last in a sport he'd initially wanted to pursue before switching to MMA.

And while the one-sided nature of the Joshua fight—and Joshua's subsequent KO loss to Daniel Dubois—probably indicate that a championship bid isn't likely for Ngannou, it's not as if there's no big names out there who'd be willing to share a marquee and a purse.

Enter Deontay Wilder.

The former U.S. Olympian was a multiyear WBC heavyweight champ before going 0-2-1 against Fury and losing subsequent fights to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang. But he's not ready to give up either and may be exactly the type of opponent—recognizable and legitimate, but flawed and vulnerable—that would prompt Ngannou to sign a contract.

"The top three guys that I've always had are Fury, Joshua and Wilder," he told Sky Sports earlier this year. "Wilder better get it together because I'm not done, I want that name on my record."

Who It Probably Will Be: Ante Delija

Let's be clear: Of the four options presented here, this one is our fourth favorite.

But given the complexities of contracts and other non-combat factors, it's also the simplest.

Thirty-four-year-old Ante Delija is a native of Croatia who's been an MMA pro since 2011, fought in a handful of organizations outside the UFC and was the champion of the PFL's heavyweight tournament in 2022—having also KO'd Ferreira in one round along the way.

That's the result that could make it a logical leap for Ngannou and it's an easy one given that both he and Delija are on the PFL roster, making the event a breeze to set up.

Ngannou would be a gargantuan favorite to beat Delija given the absence of any truly significant victories on his would-be foe's resume.

But Delija does have 11 wins by KO and another six by submission, which, alongside the early finish of Ngannou's most recent opponent, make it at least palatable. And to UFC legend Randy Couture, it's even more.

"That's a fight I'd love to see. He's a game fighter. He's a solid, well-rounded fighter," Couture told MMA Junkie last year. "Francis Ngannou and Ante Delija, that would be a great fight. I would watch that fight, and I would pay a pay-per-view to watch that fight."

Who We Wish It Would Be: Jon Jones

Remember what we said about breaking habits?

Appetites for an MMA showdown between Ngannou and Jon Jones have been whetted for several years now, ever since the UFC's former boss at 205 pounds ditched that weight class and declared his intention to climb into Ngannou's backyard at heavyweight.

The issues between Ngannou and the company put the prospect to bed early last year, prompting Jones to seek and ultimately grab a vacated title with a first-round stoppage of Gane at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in March 2023.

White has suggested Ngannou's move to the exit was to avoid a match with Jones, who's not fought since beating Gane but is scheduled to return to meet another former champ, Stipe Miocic, atop a pay-per-view blockbuster next month at Madison Square Garden.

Should the perpetually unpredictably Jones emerge from that one with his status intact, who's to say he won't color outside the lines again and chase what'd surely be a massive Saudi Arabian bag to engage with his would-be rival?

Ngannou at least acknowledges the possibility...which is a good thing.

"I think there is more of a chance of it happening in Saudi Arabia," he told DAZN. "There's basically more of a chance if it happens here."

What Would Break the Internet: Brock Lesnar

The last slide is always the fun one.

And what, we ask, could be more fun than Ngannou fighting Brock Lesnar?

Lest anyone forget, the now-47-year-old Lesnar has been a combat and sports entertainment phenomenon since the moment he left the University of Minnesota as a national collegiate wrestling champion as a fresh-faced 20-something way back in 2000.

He climbed Vince McMahon's scripted ladder and became the WWE's flagship performer in 2002 before finding his way to the UFC six years later. He was a two-time heavyweight champ by the time he left the company in 2011 and made one more octagonal appearance in 2016 for a defeat of Mark Hunt that was later overturned by a failed drug test.

He's spent much of his post-UFC time back in the wrestling environment and is now a seven-time WWE champ, but his name still comes up in the occasional MMA dream fights conversation, and Ngannou has long suggested Lesnar's is a name he'd like on his list.

"I'd always like to see the match between me and Brock Lesnar," he told the Top Turtle podcast. "Two big dudes. I like that matchup. I'm excited for that kind of match as a fan. … I want to see that match."