Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight title contender Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes are set to run it back this Saturday (Nov. 25, 2018) at UFC Fight Night 141 in Beijing, China in a battle of hard-hitting big men.
Before then, take a look back at their original encounter, which went down way back at UFC Fight Night 186 in 2016 in Zagreb, Croatia. At the time, Ngannou only had one fight inside the Octagon to his credit, while Blaydes was making his official Octagon debut.
After a first few minutes that saw them fight for position, Ngannou showed off his power by bucking Blaydes with a straight left. A few moments later, “The Predator” dropped “Razor” with another left, though Blaydes was able to quickly recover and tie up, eventually scoring a takedown. In round two, Ngannou picked up the pace in the striking department in search of a finish, battering and bruising Blaydes at will.
After having his right eye close up because of repetitive punishment, the cage side physician put an end to the fight. Now, Blaydes — who hasn’t lost since then, racking up six straight wins — will look to get some revenge on Ngannou and jump the championship line. For “The Predator,” another win over Blaydes won’t put him in the championship mix, but it stops the bleeding of a two-fight losing streak for the timebeing.
To see who else is fighting at the upcoming UFC Fight Night 141: “Ngannou vs. Blaydes 2” event on UFC Fight Pass click here.