Tag: Alistair Overeem vs. Francis Ngannou

UFC Rankings Update: Francis Ngannou Overtakes Top Spot At HW

Francis Ngannou has risen to the top spot in the latest UFC rankings. The surging heavyweight star improved three spots to No. 1 after his scintillating first-round knockout of former title challenger in the co-main event of last Saturday’s (Dec. 2, 2017) UFC 218 from Detroit. It’s the expected result, as news broke last night […]

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Francis Ngannou has risen to the top spot in the latest UFC rankings.

The surging heavyweight star improved three spots to No. 1 after his scintillating first-round knockout of former title challenger in the co-main event of last Saturday’s (Dec. 2, 2017) UFC 218 from Detroit.

It’s the expected result, as news broke last night that Ngannou would be taking on current champion Stipe Miocic in the main event of January 20’s UFC 220 from Boston, Massachusetts. Miocic has also finished Overeem in the main event of September 2016’s UFC 203, but it wasn’t without some adversity, as ‘The Demolition Man’ dropped the Ohioan in the first frame and had him in trouble before getting stopped with strikes himself.

‘The Predator’ had no such trouble with Overeem, which undoubtedly played into him opening as the betting favorite over Miocic. Ngannou has won six straights fights in the UFC while Miocic has won five, making their title fight one of the best in the recent memory of the UFC’s star power-void heavyweight division.

For now, check out the full updated rankings courtesy of the UFC’s official website right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Georges St-Pierre
3 Conor McGregor
4 Max Holloway
5 Daniel Cormier
6 TJ Dillashaw
7 Stipe Miocic
8 Tyron Woodley
9 Tony Ferguson
10 Cris Cyborg
11 Cody Garbrandt
12 Amanda Nunes
12 Robert Whittaker +1
14 Joanna Jedrzejczyk +1
15 Dominick Cruz *NR

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Jussier Formiga +1
5 Sergio Pettis -1
6 Wilson Reis
7 Brandon Moreno
8 Ben Nguyen
9 John Moraga
10 Dustin Ortiz
11 Tim Elliott
12 Alexandre Pantoja
13 Louis Smolka
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Magomed Bibulatov

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Jimmie Rivera
5 John Lineker
6 Bryan Caraway
7 Marlon Moraes
8 Aljamain Sterling
9 John Dodson
10 Thomas Almeida
11 Pedro Munhoz
12 Eddie Wineland
13 Brett Johns *NR
14 Rob Font -1
15 Matthew Lopez -1

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Ricardo Lamas
4 Cub Swanson
5 Chan Sung Jung
6 Brian Ortega
7 Yair Rodriguez
8 Jeremy Stephens
9 Darren Elkins
10 Renato Moicano
11 Dennis Bermudez
12 Dooho Choi
13 Mirsad Bektic
14 Myles Jury
15 Jason Knight

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Tony Ferguson (Interim Champion)
2 Khabib Nurmagomedov
3 Eddie Alvarez +1
4 Edson Barboza -1
5 Justin Gaethje
6 Nate Diaz
7 Dustin Poirier
8 Kevin Lee
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Michael Johnson +1
11 Al Iaquinta -1
12 Beneil Dariush
13 Anthony Pettis
14 Francisco Trinaldo *NR
15 James Vick -1

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Stephen Thompson
2 Robbie Lawler
3 Colby Covington
4 Rafael Dos Anjos
5 Demian Maia
6 Jorge Masvidal
7 Darren Till
8 Carlos Condit
9 Donald Cerrone
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Neil Magny
12 Kamaru Usman
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Dong Hyun Kim
15 Yancy Medeiros *NR

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Georges St-Pierre
1 Robert Whittaker (Interim Champion)
2 Yoel Romero
3 Luke Rockhold
4 Jacare Souza
5 Chris Weidman
6 Kelvin Gastelum
7 Michael Bisping
8 Derek Brunson
9 Anderson Silva
10 David Branch
11 Uriah Hall
12 Vitor Belfort
13 Krzysztof Jotko
14 Lyoto Machida
15 Paulo Costa

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Glover Teixeira
4 Jimi Manuwa
5 Ovince Saint Preux
6 Mauricio Rua
7 Misha Cirkunov
8 Corey Anderson
9 Ilir Latifi
10 Patrick Cummins
11 Rogerio Nogueira
12 Gadzhimurad Antigulov
13 Tyson Pedro
14 Jared Cannonier
15 Jan Blachowicz

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Francis Ngannou +3
2 Alistair Overeem -1
3 Fabricio Werdum -1
4 Cain Velasquez -1
5 Mark Hunt
6 Derrick Lewis
7 Alexander Volkov
8 Marcin Tybura
9 Curtis Blaydes
10 Stefan Struve
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Junior Albini
14 Travis Browne
15 Tim Johnson

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Cynthia Calvillo +1
7 Michelle Waterson -1
8 Felice Herrig +1
9 Carla Esparza -1
10 Alexa Grasso
11 Cortney Casey
12 Paige VanZant
13 Joanne Calderwood
14 Randa Markos
15 Maryna Moroz

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Sijara Eubanks *NR
2 Lauren Murphy *NR
3 Roxanne Modafferi *NR
4 Barb Honchak *NR
5 Montana De La Rosa *NR
6 DeAnna Bennett *NR
7 Rachael Ostovich *NR
8 Jessica Rose Clark *NR
9 Mara Romero Borella *NR
10 Shana Dobson *NR
11 Gillian Robertson *NR
12 Kalindra Faria *NR
13 Melinda Fabian *NR
14 Bec Rawlings *NR
15 Emily Whitmire *NR

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Holly Holm
3 Julianna Pena
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Ronda Rousey
6 Cat Zingano
7 Sara McMann
8 Ketlen Vieira
9 Germaine de Randamie
10 Alexis Davis
11 Liz Carmouche
12 Marion Reneau
13 Katlyn Chookagian
14 Bethe Correia
15 Leslie Smith

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Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou Heavyweight Title Slugfest Set For UFC 220

The most anticipated heavyweight bout in MMA right now – and perhaps ever – is set for January’s UFC 220. News arrived from MMA Junkie and was subsequently confirmed by MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani tonight (Dec. 6, 2017) that champion Stipe Miocic will take on surging No. 1 contender Francis Ngannou in a potentially explosive […]

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The most anticipated heavyweight bout in MMA right now – and perhaps ever – is set for January’s UFC 220.

News arrived from MMA Junkie and was subsequently confirmed by MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani tonight (Dec. 6, 2017) that champion Stipe Miocic will take on surging No. 1 contender Francis Ngannou in a potentially explosive match-up scheduled for the main event of the pay-per-view event from Boston, Massachusetts.

Ngannou (11-1) finalized his shot at the title by knocking out former title contender Alistair Overeem with a vicious first-round knockout at last weekend’s UFC 218 from Detroit. The win gave him an undefeated 6-0 record in the UFC, with all of his victories coming by way of stoppage, including his last four in the first round.

He’ll face by far the biggest test of his MMA career when he meets similarly surging champion Miocic, who was last seen stopping former champion Junior dos Santos at May’s UFC 211 from Dallas, Texas. A contract dispute kept him out of action for the rest of the year.

Miocic (17-2) has been on fire like few UFC heavyweight champions ever have been, winning his last five bouts including two title defenses over Overeem and dos Santos, which put him in a tie for the record for the division’s most consecutive defenses. He’s only lost to dos Santos by split decision and Stefan Struve by TKO in his decorated fight career.

The bout will join the previously scheduled light heavyweight title bout between Daniel Cormier and rising contender Volkan Oezdemir, which was put in possible danger when news recently broke that Oezdemir ha been arrested for felony battery in his adopted home of Florida. The bout will go forward as planned; however, it has reportedly been demoted to the co-main event now.

The pay-per-view event will mark only the fourth time in UFC history that the heavyweight and light heavyweight titles will be defended on the same card.

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Francis Ngannou Calls Out Brock Lesnar For Dream Match

Surging freight train Francis Ngannou is the talk of the MMA town – and deservedly so – following his first-round knockout of former title contender Alistair Overeem at last Saturday’s UFC 218 from Detroit. Felling ‘The Demolition Man’ with a thunderous, fright-worthy left hand in just a minute-and-a-half, the Cameroonian knockout artist made such an impression […]

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Surging freight train Francis Ngannou is the talk of the MMA town – and deservedly so – following his first-round knockout of former title contender Alistair Overeem at last Saturday’s UFC 218 from Detroit.

Felling ‘The Demolition Man’ with a thunderous, fright-worthy left hand in just a minute-and-a-half, the Cameroonian knockout artist made such an impression that he’s already favored over heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in their rumored match-up in 2018. ‘The Predator’ said he believes he is already the UFC heavyweight champ, but Miocic may not be Ngannou’s top target, surprisingly enough.

Ngannou told the Top Turtle MMA podcast (via MMA Fighting) that his dream match-up would be against former UFC heavyweight kingpin Brock Lesnar, who is currently suspended for testing positive for clomiphene following his decision win over Mark Hunt at UFC 200 in July 2016.

Despite Lesnar’s reputation as one of the biggest, strongest fighters ever to step into the Octagon, Ngannou believes he would deal with him easily:

“I’d always like to see the match between me and Brock Lesnar,” Ngannou said. “Two big dudes. I like that matchup. I’m excited for that kind of match as a fan. … I want to see that match. He’s big,” Ngannou said. “Huge, as you say. But he’s not stronger than me. I’m stronger than him. I’m the best striker in the heavyweight division and the more powerful guy. I’m also a talented guy and I will deal with that very easy.”

But with Lesnar on the sidelines and uncertain to return to MMA anytime soon if ever, Ngannou knows that Miocic will be his top potential opponent in the near future. As far as that blockbuster bout is concerned, Ngannou will pick a knockout win in his favor like he always does:

“I always predict KO.

“If he tries to stand up with me, he will not stand up too long,” Ngannou said. “And I think he will probably try something. He’s a good striker, but he doesn’t know how dangerous I am.”

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Francis Ngannou vs. Stipe Miocic Early Betting Odds Released

As one of few up-and-coming fighters in the UFC heavyweight division to actually gain momentum with MMA fans in recent years, Francis Ngannou sent his hype train into the stratosphere by knocking out formerly No. 1-ranked Alistair Overeem with one hellacious strike in the co-main event of last Saturday night’s (Dec. 2, 2017) UFC 218 from […]

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As one of few up-and-coming fighters in the UFC heavyweight division to actually gain momentum with MMA fans in recent years, Francis Ngannou sent his hype train into the stratosphere by knocking out formerly No. 1-ranked Alistair Overeem with one hellacious strike in the co-main event of last Saturday night’s (Dec. 2, 2017) UFC 218 from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

So much so, in fact, that Ngannou was immediately tabbed for the next title bout against champion Stipe Miocic, and indeed many pegged the Cameroonian-born Ngannou as the odds-on favorite to dethrone the also-surging Cleveland native. This week, early bettings odds have reflected that, as ESPN’s Brett Okamoto revealed that Ngannou debuted as a somewhat surprising -160 favorite over the +130 ruling champ:

There’s no doubting that “The Predator,” who has finished six straight fights since debuting the Octagon in December 2015, is the most promising heavyweight prospect to come along for several years in the heavyweight division. His win over Overeem, a former Strikeforce, DREAM, and K-1 champion who was deservedly billed as Ngannou’s first true top-ranked challenge, only solidified that fact, and his title shot is the only choice for a promotion needing bankable stars more than ever.

Miocic also knocked out Overeem when they met at 2016’s UFC 203, even if it did take him a bit more time – and a decent amount more danger – than Ngannou’s victory over “The Reem.” The athletic former Golden Gloves boxer has won five straights by knockouts himself, with his most recent a first-round TKO over former champion Junior dos Santos to avenge his last loss at May’s UFC 211.

That adds up to 11 straight finish wins combined for heavyweight’s top two combatants, making it quite possibly the most explosive match-up the Octagon has ever seen. Do you agree with Ngannou already being favored over the reigning champ?

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Stipe Miocic Scoffs At Francis Ngannou’s Title Plans On Twitter

Stipe Miocic is still the UFC heavyweight champion of the world, and he’s here to remind you in case you forgot. With all the attention currently placed on heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou, Miocic took to Twitter to address the Cameroonian’s campaign for a title shot, and did so in classic Stipe fashion: And still… pic.twitter.com/IwZPxLIXpL […]

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Stipe Miocic is still the UFC heavyweight champion of the world, and he’s here to remind you in case you forgot.

With all the attention currently placed on heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou, Miocic took to Twitter to address the Cameroonian’s campaign for a title shot, and did so in classic Stipe fashion:

Ngannou took to opportunity after knocking out Alistair Overeem in the first round to make his case for a shot at Miocic’s belt. Ngannou’s performance was certainly emphatic enough to catch the champ’s attention, as the victory pushes Ngannou to an impressive 11-1 record.

The hulking Cameroonian is undefeated in the UFC and has now taken out top contenders in Overeem and Andrei Arlovski, both with punches and both under two minutes of round one.

Meanwhile, Miocic has enjoyed his championship status ever since knocking g out former champ Fabricio Werdum back at UFC 198, and has defended the belt twice since then, with first round stoppages over Overeem and Junior Dos Santos. Both Ngannou And Miocic seem to be running full-force right in to one another and appear destined to fight each other in the near future.

Miocic most recently fought in May, meaning the timing of a title fight against Ngannou makes the most sense, and with no other conceivable heavyweight contender worthy or available at the moment, dont be surprised when this fight is announced.

Who do you seeing winning between Miocic and Ngannou? Is the champion the man to stop Ngannou’s momentum and hand him his first UFC loss?

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Francis Ngannou Reveals Why He Talked Trash To Overeem Before UFC 218

Francis Ngannou may have been the less experienced fighter going into his UFC 218 showdown last night versus veteran Alistair Overeem, but that didn’t hinder the Cameroonian from dominating him in less than two minutes. Ngannou pulverized Overeem with a wicked counterpunch only one-and-a-half minutes into the first round. He revealed his motivation for such […]

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Francis Ngannou may have been the less experienced fighter going into his UFC 218 showdown last night versus veteran Alistair Overeem, but that didn’t hinder the Cameroonian from dominating him in less than two minutes.

Ngannou pulverized Overeem with a wicked counterpunch only one-and-a-half minutes into the first round.

He revealed his motivation for such an emphatic performance during the post-fight press conference (transcribed by MMA Fighting):

“Sometimes you have to do something that you never do. I know that 80 percent, I’m gonna knock you out. The 20 percent was just like random.”

“Because he talk a little bit,” Ngannou said. “He talk a little bit and I really just wanted him to hear that I’m a little bit hungry about what he said, and I wanted to correct him.”

And while Overeem may have been the more experienced man in the cage that night, carrying over 60 MMA fights and years of professional kickboxing, Ngannou’s confidence in himself remains unparalleled in the heavyweight division.

“That is the past, man. We are talking about now. And now is me. I’m the present.”

How do you predict Ngannou would do against current champion Stipe Miocic? Is he really the future of the heavyweight division?

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