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Hard-hitting heavyweights are looking set to collide on the UFC 239 main-card as Francis Ngannou takes on the former champ Junior dos Santos.
Ngannou’s resurgence of late came only after the pair of major speed-bumps in the form of his drubbing at the hands of the former heavyweight king Stipe Miocic and his universally-panned matchup with Derrick Lewis.
It was clear that there was some serious work to be done behind the scenes for the hulking Cameroonian – work that seemed to be pay dividends this year as he racked off back-to-back sub-minute KO’s of Curtis Blaydes and Cain Velasquez.
For Junior dos Santos, since losing out to the aforementioned Miocic by first-round KO in 2017, he has managed to rack off three wins on the trot, beating Blagoy Ivanov on the score cards before finishing both Tai Tuivasa and Derrick Lewis.
According to ESPN‘s Ariel Helwani, the UFC are looking to book a number-1 contender bout between the two for UFC 239 on July 6.
Francis Ngannou vs. Junior dos Santos scheduled for UFC 239, July 6 in Las Vegas, according to sources. More shortly.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 30, 2019
The international fight-week event has been growing in scale by the day this week and as of right now, already contains several high-profile matchups.
The fights that are reportedly signed/close to being signed for UFC 239 are as follows:
Jon Jones (c) vs. Thiago Santos
Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Holly Holm
Francis Ngannou vs. Junior dos Santos
Jan Blachowicz vs. Luke Rockhold
Jorge Masvidal vs. Ben Askren
Cillian Cunningham, Pundit Arena
