A major heavyweight clash between Alistair Overeem and Francis Ngannou has been officially announced for the co-main event of UFC 218 in Detroit on December 2nd.
The fast-rising Ngannou had called out ‘The Reem’ after his previously booked fight with Junior dos Santos at UFC 215 fell through recently, and while the Dutchman wasn’t able to step in as a late replacement for that particular event, he has now accepted his rival’s challenge.
“I heard someone is trying to skip the line,” Overeem wrote on Twitter. “Can’t allow such a thing to happen. So @francis_ngannou let’s go!”
The 31-year-old Ngannou is currently ranked No.4 in the heavyweight division and has emerged as a new star after running through all his opponents to date, racking up five victories in a row since joining the UFC in late 2015.
All five of those fights have been ended inside the distance, with his biggest win so far coming last time out in January when he TKO’d Andrei Arlovski in 92 seconds.
As for the 37-year-old Overeem, he currently stands as the division’s No.1 contender after rebounding from an unsuccessful title bid against Stipe Miocic with a KO win over Mark Hunt and majority decision victory against Fabricio Werdum.
Overeem Vs Ngannou will serve as the lead-in to an as yet unannouced main event at UFC 218, with other previously confirmed fights for the show including Eddie Alvarez Vs Justin Gaethje and a rescheduled encounter between Henry Cejudo Vs Sergio Pettis.
