Tonight the UFC comes to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for UFC on ESPN 3. We have former UFC Heavyweight title challenger Francis Ngannou returning to ESPN to take on former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos. Two of the hardest hitters ever in the sport; one is recorded as the hardest hitter, and the other has better boxing fundamentals than 95% of mixed martial artists today, with 15 of his 21 wins coming via knockout.
Both Ngannou and dos Santos have around a 70% knockout ratio actually, considering nine of Ngannou’s 13 wins are knockouts as well. We thought for a little while there that dos Santos might be done, that his best days were behind him, he went from 15-1 to 18-5 from late 2012 to mid 2017, being finished in three of those four losses. We’ve seen in his last three fights that isn’t the case, he still has some fight left; same with Francis, after he lost to Stipe Miocic, he wasn’t the same against Derrick Lewis, and now he appears to be back at 100% as well.
This fight will most likely be a title eliminator, and we also have another title eliminator on the card, as Joseph Benavidez rematches Jussier Formiga at 125 lbs. There are some pretty important fights tonight, and that’s just the last two of the night. All twelve fights will be on ESPN starting at 6pm ET. Fight Card posted below:
Francis Ngannou def. Junior dos Santos via KO (punches) at 1:11 of round one
- Ngannou improves to 14-3, dos Santos falls to 21-6
Joseph Benavidez def. Jussier Formiga via TKO (head kick and punches) at 4:47 of round two
- Benavidez improves to 28-5, Formiga falls to 23-6
Demian Maia def. Anthony Rocco Martin via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
- Maia improves to 27-9, Martin falls to 16-5
Vinc Pichel def. Roosevelt Roberts via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Pichel improves to 12-2, Roberts falls to 8-1
Drew Dober def. Marco Polo Reyes via KO (punch) at 1:07 of round one
- Dober improves to 21-9 (1 NC), Reyes falls to 8-6
Alonzo Menifield def. Paul Craig via KO (punches) at 3:19 of round one
- Menifield improves to 9-0, Craig falls to 11-4
Ricardo Ramos def. Journey Newson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ramos improves to 13-2, Newson falls to 9-2
Eryk Anders def. Vinicius Moreira via KO (punches) at 1:18 of round one
- Anders improves to 12-4, Moreira falls to 9-3
Jared Gordon def. Dan Moret via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Gordon improves to 15-3, Moret falls to 13-6
Dalcha Lungiambula def. Dequan Townsend via TKO (punches and elbows) at :42 of round three
- Lungiambula improves to 10-1, Townsend falls to 21-9
Amanda Ribas def. Emily Whitmire via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:10 of round two
- Ribas improves to 7-1, Whitmire falls to 4-3
Maurice Greene def. Junior Albini via TKO (punches) at 3:38 of round one
- Greene improves to 8-2, Albini falls to 14-6
