Stipe Miocic has to get by Francis Ngannou to achieve history at UFC 220
- Share via
The UFC on Tuesday officially announced a double title fight UFC 220 event in Boston for Jan. 20, with the headliner being a potentially thunderous striking battle between heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and top contender Francis Ngannou.
Daniel Cormier, following his reinstatement as light-heavyweight champion after Jon Jones submitted another positive test for performance enhancing drugs, will defend his belt against second-rated Volkan Oezdemir at TD Garden.
Cleveland’s Miocic (17-2) aims to become the first heavyweight champion to make three successful title defenses against Ngannou (11-1) — after Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, Tim Sylvia and Randy Couture each had two straight title defenses.
Making history will be a formidable task considering Ngannou earlier this month knocked out Alistair Overeem with one first-round punch.
The Cameroon fighter began training in mixed martial arts in 2013.
Oezdemir (15-1) will seek to become the first Swiss UFC champion, landing the shot at Cormier following a decision in February over Ovince Saint Preux and two knockouts, of Misha Cirkunov and Jimi Manuwa.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
