Francis Ngannou has made it clear he wants a second chance to claim UFC gold, and his latest performance strengthened his case.
After dealing with a two-fight skid beginning with a January 2018 title loss, Ngannou (13-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) has put together consecutive knockout victories over fellow heavyweight contenders – in less than one minute each – after finishing ex-champ Cain Velasquez (14-2 MMA, 12-3 UFC) in just 26 seconds at UFC on ESPN 1 in Phoenix. With the win, “The Predator” moves into the No. 5 spot in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings.
Also on the card, bantamweight standout Aljamain Sterling (17-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) made a jump of his own in the rankings with a unanimous decision win over Jimmie Rivera (22-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) at UFC on ESPN 1.
After this past week’s UFC on ESPN 1 event, as well as a pair of high-profile Bellator cards, take a look at the updated divisional lists, as well as preview the entire rankings ahead of a busy weekend of MMA featuring a UFC event, a Bellator event and more.
