Stipe Miocic has to get by Francis Ngannou to achieve history at UFC 220
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.
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