FRANCIS NGANNOU (13-3) HAS his sights set on another UFC title shot after being victorious in Phoenix overnight.
The hard-hitting Cameroon-born heavyweight disposed of former champion Cain Velasquez (14-3) via KO after just 26 seconds of the headline bout of the UFC on ESPN 1 event.
In the latest outing of an injury-hampered career, it was a bitterly disappointing return to the octagon for Velasquez, who was competing for the first time since his win over Travis Browne at UFC 200 in July 2016.
Fighting in his home state of Arizona, the 36-year-old lamented afterwards that he allowed himself to get too close to Ngannou so early in the contest.
Following consecutive losses to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis, it’s now back-to-back wins for Ngannou, who recorded a first-round TKO victory over Curtis Blaydes in November.
Afterwards, he threw his name into the hat for a meeting with reigning heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who’s an American Kickboxing Academy team-mate of Cain Velasquez.
“I think he [Cormier] should come to avenge his team-mate, and that would be a good match-up,” said Ngannou, who suffered a unanimous-decision loss to then-champion Miocic when he challenged for the belt in January 2018.
UFC on ESPN 1 results
- Francis Ngannou def. Cain Velasquez via KO (punches) after 0:26 of round one
- Paul Felder def. James Vick via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Cynthia Calvillo def. Cortney Casey via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Kron Gracie def. Alex Caceres via submission (rear-naked choke) after 2:06 of round one
- Vicente Luque def. Bryan Barberena via TKO (knees and punches) after 4:54 of round three
- Andre Fili def. Myles Jury via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Aljamain Sterling def. Jimmie Rivera via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Manny Bermudez def. Benito Lopez via submission (guillotine choke) after 3:09 of round one
- Andrea Lee def. Ashlee Evans-Smith via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Nik Lentz def. Scott Holtzman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Luke Sanders def. Renan Barao via KO (punches) after 1:01 of round two
- Emily Whitmire def. Aleksandra Albu via submission (rear-naked choke) after 1:01 of round one
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