The UFC hosts its first pay-per-view of 2018 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts with two titles up for grabs. Stipe Miocic bids to become the most successful heavyweight champion in the promotion’s history, taking on explosive knockout artist Francis Ngannou.
If one title fight wasn’t enough, the UFC light heavyweight crown will also be up for grabs in Boston, with reinstated champion Daniel Cormier looking to retain his title from Swiss knockout specialist, Volkan Oezdemir.
For Cleveland’s Stipe Miocic, every challenger has been brushed aside en route to being declared ‘the baddest man on the planet’. After ousting Fabricio Werdum in the first round in Brazil, Miocic has followed suit with consecutive first round finishes of Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos.
If being the UFC Heavyweight Champion wasn’t enough, Stipe Miocic also is employed as a part-time fireman. After clinching the title in front of 45,000 people in Brazil, Miocic returned home to be greeted by the unenviable task of cleaning the toilets. As reported by ESPN, less than two weeks before potentially the biggest heavyweight bout in the history of the sport, Stipe Miocic worked a twelve-hour shift at his fire department.
Born and raised in Ohio to Croatian parents, Miocic received interest from Major League Baseball teams during his college years, whilst also clinching a Cleveland Golden Gloves boxing championship alongside becoming an NCAA Division I wrestler. He may be one of the last people you’d like to fight… but could be one of the nicest men around!
If Miocic’s humble life is something to admire, Ngannou’s rise from a poverty-stricken upbringing to the scariest heavyweight in the octagon is one to take inspiration from. Raised in a small village in Cameroon, Ngannou had little by way of education. At the age of twelve, he went to work in a sand quarry to support his family, due to their lack of funds.
Five years ago at the age of twenty-six, the Cameroonian emigrated to France to pursue his dream to become a professional boxer. When arriving in Paris, he had no money or friends and found himself homeless. The MMA Factory’s head coach Fernand Lopez Owonyebe provided a place to train for Ngannou, but the Cameroonian was interesting in boxing alone.
Mixed martial arts is an illegal sport in France, with the French Judo Federation said to have influenced leading politicians into banning the sport due to the fear of competition with MMA and jiu-jitsu. Ngannou clinching the title on Sunday morning may just force the French government to reconsider their position.
Ngannou competed in his first MMA bout just over four years ago, suffering his first loss in his second fight of his professional career. After picking up a 5-1 record across Europe and Bahrain, the UFC came calling and Ngannou has repaid the faith, picking up six wins, inside the distance, with four of those coming inside the first round.
With the form and devastating path of destruction Francis Ngannou is making across the sport, it might just mean that Stipe Miocic could be the only man to extinguish the Cameroonian.
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Daniel Cormier had his world torn apart when Jon Jones won their rematch at UFC 214. Their rivalry is perhaps the most ferocious and most spoken about in the sport’s recent history. His legacy as one of the greatest mixed martial artists was left in shatters.
But, yet again… Jon Jones tested positive for a banned substance called turinabol, receiving a suspension and being stripped of the light-heavyweight title he had just recaptured. Daniel Cormier was handed the light-heavyweight title and the division must move on!
If you put arch-nemesis Jones out of the picture, Cormier has beat everyone else put infront of him. Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson might be the most comparable man as a light heavyweight version of Francis Ngannou, holding scary knockout power, but Cormier submitted him twice after absorbing that power early on.
After a career as a wrestler, representing USA at the Olympics as well as picking up hordes of championships across the world… Cormier wanted to test himself in mixed martial arts. Beginning as a heavyweight, he knocked out current boxing heavyweight contender Lucas Browne in his third fight, before joining the now defunct Strikeforce in 2011.
After winning the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, Cormier was handed his UFC debut having amassed a perfect 11-0 record. Frank Mir is one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, but Cormier dominated the legend on his octagon bow, showing his devastating and relentless wrestling style.
In truth, Cormier could’ve competed for the heavyweight crown, but the American stood aside for teammate Cain Velasquez to make his mark on the division. He moved to light heavyweight and only Jon Jones has been able to overcome Cormier so far.
On paper, his opponent Volkan Oezdemir may represent the easiest challenge for DC. Will Cormier underestimate the challenger? The twenty-eight-year-old Swiss light-heavyweight will hope so!
Volkan Oezdemir began his fighting career in kickboxing, picking up a 5-0 record before competing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. After starting to build the foundations to become a well-rounded mixed martial artist, he quickly built up a perfect 9-0 record inside three years.
After winning by knockout on his Bellator debut, Oezdemir was clearly a prospect to be reckoned with. However, a submission defeat to Kelly Anundson in 2014 left him no longer competing for the promotion.
After an inactive couple of years, Oezdemir was signed by the UFC to make his short-notice debut against Ovince Saint Preux, a fight which he controversially won by split decision. Whilst many thought this win may be a fluke, his next two performances would show that he could rise to the top of the shallow light-heavyweight division.
The Swiss star demonstrated the power he possesses in his hands, landing the tenth knockout victory of his career against Misha Cirkunov in Stockholm, Sweden in just twenty-eight seconds. If that wasn’t impressive enough, just over two months later he starched Brit Jimi Manuwa in forty-two seconds.
In Boston, Oezdemir has the opportunity to upset the odds and win UFC gold inside his first year in the octagon. The Swiss light heavyweight has been the underdog for every fight so far… can he shock the world in Boston?
