Stipe Miocic (left) and Francis Ngannou (right) square off prior to their first fight at UFC 220
Who has the upper hand at UFC 220, champion Stipe Miocic or challenger Francis Ngannou?
The upcoming UFC 220 pay-per-view is intriguing for many reasons, one being that both the UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight titles will be on the line on the same night.
UFC will return to Boston with a pair of blockbuster title fights. Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic looks to set a new divisional title-defense record when he battles ferocious knockout artist and No.1-ranked Francis Ngannou. Also, light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier defends against power punching and No.2-ranked Volkan Oezdemir. UFC 220: MIOCIC vs. NGANNOU goes down Saturday, January 20 from TD Garden and will be available live on pay-per-view.
Will history be made at UFC 220?
Miocic has secured consecutive knockout victories over Alistair Overeem and Junior Dos Santos to tie Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, Tim Sylvia and Randy Couture on the consecutive heavyweight title-defense list. No UFC heavyweight champion has ever defended his title more than two times successfully. Miocic has a date with destiny and a chance to make history on January 20.
With an impressive win over Ngannou, Miocic has an opportunity to cement himself as the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time. But is he the favorite going into the UFC 220 headlining fight?
Miocic (17-2) has not lost a fight since dropping a unanimous decision to Junior Dos Santos in December 2014. Since then he has rattled off five straight finishes to include a revenge victory over JDS.
Punching Power of Ngannou
A resident of Paris, France, Ngannou (11-1) has some of the most devastating power in the history of mixed martial arts. In November, video surfaced of Ngannou setting the world record for punching power while training at the UFC Performance Institute.
Ngannou has turned heads with stoppage wins over Andrei Arlovski, Curtis Blaydes and Luis Henrique. At UFC 218 in December, he sent shockwaves through the heavyweight division with his spectacular one-punch knockout victory against Overeem.
Who will have the upper hand?
Will the champion Miocic and his experience over higher caliber heavyweights propel him into the UFC history books? Or will it be the rising star, “The Predator” who lands the big uppercut and takes the champion out and keeps history from being written?
