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Stipe Miocic-Francis Ngannou heavyweight title fight targeted for UFC 220
Filed under: Featured, News, UFC
UFC 220 is on the verge of getting even bigger – literally.
The expected heavyweight title fight between champion Stipe Miocic and No. 1 contender Francis Ngannou is being targeted for the event, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the UFC had yet to make its plans public.
UFC 220 takes place Jan. 20 at TD Garden in Boston and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Following Ngannous’s devastating knockout win over Alistair Overeem at UFC 218, UFC President Dana White said “The Predator” is next up for Miocic.
Since winning the belt with a victory over Fabricio Werdum in May 2016, Miocic (17-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) has defended it against Overeem and Junior Dos Santos. All three victories have come by way of stoppage – two as knockouts and the Dos Santos win via TKO. Miocic’s last five fights in total have resulted in stoppage wins. A third title defense would give him the UFC heavyweight record.
As for Ngannou (11-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who started fighting professionally just four years ago, all six of his UFC wins have been stoppages – three TKOs, two knockouts and a submission.
If booked, Miocic-Ngannou would be added as the second UFC 220 title fight. Last week it was announced that Daniel Cormier will defend the light heavyweight title vs. Volkan Oezdemir on the card.
This would mark just the fourth time in UFC history that the heavyweight and light heavyweight titles would be at stake on the same card. The last time it happened was on Dec. 27, 2008, at UFC 92, where 205-pound champion Forrest Griffin lost the title to Rashad Evans via TKO, while interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was stopped for the first time in his career by Frank Mir.
The only time both undisputed titles were on the line on the same night was at UFC 44 in Sept. 2003.
It’s unclear which of the two title fights would serve as the UFC 220 main event.
With the addition, the latest UFC 220 lineup includes:
- Champ Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannouo – for heavyweight title
- Champ Daniel Cormier vs. Volkan Oezdemir – for light heavyweight title
- Islam Makhachev vs. Gleison Tibau
- Dustin Ortiz vs. Alexandre Pantoja
- Thomas Almeida vs. Rob Font
- Shane Burgos vs. Calvin Kattar
- Kyle Bochniak vs. Brandon Davis
For more on UFC 220, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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