It could end so quickly, we may need to see it twice.
It’s been awhile since mixed martial arts (MMA) fans have been amped for a heavyweight main event and boy, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) delivered with the UFC 220 headliner this Sat. night (Jan. 20, 2018) in Boston.
That’s where Stipe Miocic (17-2) will defend his heavyweight title against division power puncher Francis Ngannou (11-1) in what is scheduled for five rounds … but c’mon, this shit is ending quickly.
And violently.
“A lot of people don’t think (I have power), and they wake up looking at the lights,” Miocic said at the UFC 220 media day (via MMA Junkie). “I can stand with anyone, but I’m going to do what I do. I have the best coaches in the world, a great game plan, I’m going to go out and execute and walk out ‘and still.’”
Unfortunately, I’m having trouble living in the moment and I’m already looking forward to the Sunday morning mop up, where we’ll try to figure out what’s next for the winner of Miocic-Ngannou.
We’re kinda fucked, regardless of who wins.
Probably because the heavyweight division is starved for contenders. Alistair Overeem currently occupies the No. 2 spot, but he’s been Reem’d by both champion and challenger. Below him is Fabricio Werdum, who aside from being 40 years old, has been knocking around the JV squad and throwing boomerangs at welterweights.
Cain Velasquez, missing in action since summer of 2016, has competed just twice over the last four-plus years and yet somehow managed to stay ranked at No. 4. Pretty impressive for a guy who’s held together with popsicle sticks and duct tape.
I saw this recently and no disrespect, but no one will call it a comeback until Velasquez actually makes it to the cage.
The future of 265 looks depressingly bleak, which is probably why Ngannou is starting to call out potential opponents who are not only absent from the official rankings, but no longer fighting in the promotion.
“I think the fight that I would like to see is Ngannou against Brock Lesnar,” the Cameroonian told WFAN. “It’s not my deal, it’s the UFC’s deal. He’s a very huge guy and seems like a very powerful guy. I want to test him.”
I’m hoping for the 25-minute war that won’t happen, just so we can look forward to the immediate rematch. And if the idea sounds silly, just remember that Mark Hunt and Bigfoot Silva went to a five-round draw in their 2013 bloodbath.
I guess we’ll find out this weekend in “Beantown” and realistically, I’ll be content if we can just get through the event without any interference from these guys.