With Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic still on the sidelines awaiting a new UFC contract, UFC 218 added one of the biggest heavyweight fights in recent memory
#1 Alistair Overeem (43-15) will square off with #4 Francis Ngannou (10-1), with Ngannou likely gaining a UFC Heavyweight Championship opportunity with a victory.
Ngannou is 5-0 in the UFC with five straight stoppages. His most notable of victories came over former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski in January in a Performance of the Night effort.
Alistair Overeem has won two in a row, and six of his last seven fights. Ironically, Overeem's only stutter during that run came last September at UFC 203 against Stipe Miocic when Overeem was unable to capture the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
Ngannou expressed earlier this month he preferred to fight Miocic to Overeem.
The UFC issued the following Wednesday night
Two of the top big men in MMA will collide in Detroit on Dec. 2, as number one heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem will attempt to stop the rise of Francis Ngannou in a UFC 218 bout at Little Caesars Arena.
In what promises to be an explosive battle that could earn the winner a shot at the world title, Overeem-Ngannou pits the veteran Dutch striker against the No. 4-ranked native of Cameroon, who is coming off a 92-second TKO of Andrei Arlovski that earned him his second consecutive Performance of the Night bonus. Now “The Predator" hopes to take out another heavyweight superstar in Overeem this December.
MMA Fighting is reporting that #2 Henry Cejudo (11-2) is targeted to fight #4 Sergio Pettis (16-2) on the show as well. Cejudo is fresh off of a dominant UFC win over Wilson Reis, while Pettis is riding a two-plus year winning streak that has extended over four fights. The bout is likely to put the winner in title contention for Demetrious Johnson's UFC Flyweight Championship.
UFC 218 takes place December 2 from the Little Ceasars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Fightful will have full coverage and a post-show podcast live.
