Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou heavyweight championship bout official for UFC 220

It’s official: Stipe Miocic will defend his heavyweight title against Francis Ngannou at UFC 220 on Jan. 20.

After much talking and commotion, the heavyweight title fight between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou has officially been booked for the upcoming UFC 220 pay-per-view on January 20, per Thomas Gerbasi of UFC.com.

Ngannou, who is one of the scariest contenders in the heavyweight division, celebrated the news on social media.

Ngannou made his professional MMA debut in 2013 and has stormed to the top of the UFC rankings in just two years. The 31-year-old wrecking machine has finished most of his opponents in the first round and recently knocked out MMA veterans Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem in back-to-back fights.

Overeem, who was ranked as the No. 1 contender heading into the bout, says he was caught with the ‘uppercut from hell’. Ngannou laid the former K-1 world champion unconscious for what seemed like several minutes in the first round. ‘The Predator’ is undefeated in the UFC and, with his brutal KO win at UFC 218, surpassed Overeem to become the new #1 contender.

Miocic, the current champ, will look to go where no man has been before and defend his UFC heavyweight title for the third time. The part-time firefighter knocked out Fabricio Werdum to capture HW gold in 2016 and went on to successfully defend the belt against Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos, finishing both men in the first round.

UFC 220, which features the highly anticipated title bout between Miocic and Ngannou in the main event, takes place next month, Jan. 20 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.