Beijing will be a witness to Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes’ renewed rivalry at UFC Fight Night 141 after ‘The Predator’ defeated the ‘Razor’ via a doctor’s stoppage decision at their first heavyweight match in 2016.
The former 265-lb. title contender who’s coming off a decision loss over Derrick Lewis in July will enter a rematch against Blaydes two years after the latter lost to a doctor’s decision of being medically unfit to continue.
Ngannou Vs Overeem
Walking down memory lane, Ngannou took a crack at mixed martial arts in 2013. Four years and 12 fights into his career, the heavyweight newbie impressively earned his UFC title shot against Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 in January.
Ngannou earned an opportunity at the UFC gold from his six-fight stoppage streak since entering the esteemed MMA promotion in 2015, including a single horrific uppercut victory against Alistar Overeem.
The native of Cameroon laid out his most phenomenal win at the co-main event of UFC 218 in December last year. He defeated the much more experienced Overeem via a first-round knockout.
Walking into the Octagon at UFC 218, commentator Joe Rogan even questioned the 32-year-old’s experience and skill set leading into the fight against the now-fifth-ranked heavyweight.
“The question is how is he going to do against the world-class opposition? We’re talking about the top of the food chain. (The) No. 1 contender. Former K1 Grand Prix champion, former Strikeforce heavyweight champion, Alistair Overeem.”
Bonus
Though Ngannou didn’t spend any time basking in the glory of the stoppage win, UFC President Dana White revealed that it earned him an extra bit of cash in the form of an undisclosed bonus.
After the impressive uppercut, Rogan couldn’t help but page Miocic and say, “Francis Ngannou is coming.” Re-watch the uppercut from hell on this footage below:
https://www.facebook.com/btsport/videos/2372806676125854/
UFC Fight Night 141
MAIN CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6:30 a.m. ET)
Curtis Blaydes vs. Francis Ngannou
Alistair Overeem vs. Sergey Pavlovich
Li Jingliang vs. David Zawada
Vincent Morales vs. Song Yadong
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 3:15 a.m. ET)
Alex Morono vs. Song Kenan
Lauren Mueller vs. Wu Yanan
Rashad Coulter vs. Hu Yaozong
Jessica Aguilar vs. Weili Zhang
Martin Day vs. Liu Pingyuan
Syuri Kondo vs. Yan Xiaonan
Kevin Holland vs. John Phillips
Louis Smolka vs. Sumudaerji Sumudaerji
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/Francis Ngannou
What do you think ?