The Ulitmate Fighting Championship's (UFC) first major event of the year promises fireworks as two of the hardest striking heavyweights of this generation clash for the title and many more in UFC 220.
Stipe Miocic will put his title on the line against Francis Ngannou and the fight almost guarantees a knockout. The UFC heavyweight champion has displayed his dominance for the past three years, knocking out a who's who of contenders such as Mark Hunt, Andrei Arlovsky, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem and recently, Junior Dos Santos. Miocics last four fights did not go past the first round which shows just how powerful he is.
Francis Ngannou, much like his opponent, has been on a path of destruction since debuting in 2015. He has finished his last 10 fights, six of which were first round stoppages. His most recent knockout win came in the form of a devastating left uppercut that left Alistair Overeem out cold on canvass with his eyes rolling to the back of his head.
"The Predator," who turned to combat sports in order to lift his family out of poverty, hopes to become an inspiration to his countrymen by becoming the Champion and prove that dreams can be achieved if a person wants it enough. Miocic, however, also has his own reasons for fighting and will certainly do everything in his power to make sure the championship stays with him.
This will be an exciting match as both fighters have nuclear bombs on both of their hands, making them extremely capable of ending the fight in an instant.
For UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier, the past three years have been bittersweet as it gave him his fair share of ups and downs. He lost to Jon Jones in his first bid for the championship but won the belt when the latter was stripped the title. He had a couple of successful defenses but lost the championship to Jon Jones via knockout in their second fight.
The match, however, was declared a no-contest when Jones tested positive for using an illegal substance, resulting in Cormier being handed back the title. Now DC is looking to start 2018 with redemption in mind when he defends his newly regained championship against former kickboxer Volkan Oezdemir.
The Swiss fighter is fresh off a knockout victory over Jimi Manuwa in UFC 214, in which Oezdemir received Fight of the Night honors.
Other matches scheduled for the event include Calvin Kattar vs. Shane Burgos, Gian Villante vs. Francimar Barroso, Thomas Almeida vs. Rob Font, Kyle Bochniak vs. Brandon Davis, Sabah Homasi vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan, Dustin Ortiz vs. Alexandre Pantoja, Dan Ige vs. Julio Arce, Maryna Moroz vs. Jamie Moyle, and Islam Makhachev vs. Gleison Tibau
UFC 220 will be on Jan. 20, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts, with the air date to be announced soon.
