A heavyweight title fight of massive proportions has been confirmed for January 20th in Boston.
It’s official, boys and girls!
Stipe Miocic will attempt to make history as the only heavyweight champ to defend the belt four times, but he’ll have to get through the heavy hitting Francis Ngannou at UFC 220 in Boston on January 20th to do it. The fight, which UFC president Dana White stated was a high priority for the company to make, was confirmed to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani via sources close to the fighters.
Ngannou is coming off a massive win at UFC 218 where he knocked out Alistair Overeem with one of the biggest uppercuts we’ve ever witnessed in MMA. The fight was Ngannou’s first in several months, but solidified his position as the #1 contender in the heavyweight division. Ngannou is 6-0 in the UFC since arriving in late 2015 and 11-1 in his career. He has won all four of his latest fights in under two minutes.
Meanwhile, Stipe Miocic hasn’t fought since May due to a pay dispute, but all that has been resolved. He rolls into UFC 220 on a five fight win streak with five knockouts, the last four coming in the first round. Most recently, he defeated Junior dos Santos in just 2:22 at UFC 211 in Texas.
Despite his stellar record and wins over many of the best fighters in the heavyweight division, Miocic is still a +130 underdog coming into this fight versus Ngannou’s -160 favorite status. That probably has to do with Ngannou’s vicious one punch knockout ability, but we have to wonder whether the bookies are taking into account Miocic’s superior ground skills.
All in all, it’s going to be a very interesting battle and a great way for the UFC to kick off their pay-per-views in 2018. Who do you have winning it, Maniacs?