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Stipe Miocic slated to defend heavyweight title against Francis Ngannou at UFC 220

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Updated: December 7, 2017
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One of the most fascinating heavyweight title fights in recent memory has been booked. And we won’t have to wait very long for it.

Stipe Miocic will defend the belt against Francis Ngannou in the main event of UFC 220 on Jan. 20 in Boston, sources confirmed with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani on Wednesday. MMAjunkie was the first to report the news.

Ngannou (11-1) is coming off a huge, first-round knockout over Alistair Overeem just last weekend at UFC 218 in Detroit. The Cameroon native by way of France has won all six of his UFC fights, all of them by finish and all but one coming in the first round. The 6-foot-5 Ngannou, 31, recently moved from Paris to Las Vegas, where he trains at the UFC Performance Institute. He’s bein pegged by the promotion as a future superstar.

Miocic (17-2) would set the UFC record for most consecutive heavyweight title defenses at three with a win over Ngannou. The Cleveland area native has won his last five fights, all by knockout. Miocic, 35, won the belt from Fabricio Werdum in May 2016 and has successfully defended it against Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos.

UFC 220 already had a viable main event. Daniel Cormier will defend his UFC light heavyweight title against Volkan Oezdemir on the card. That matchup has now been bumped down to the co-main event to make way for Miocic vs. Ngannou.