Heavyweight prospect Francis Ngannou is set to get his first major test in the Octagon this September. The native of Cameroon was hoping to fight this summer after scoring a first-round TKO victory over Andrei Arlovski in January and got his wish when he was officially added to UFC 215 on Wednesday when he will face Junior dos Santos.
BREAKING: @junior_cigano vs. @francis_ngannou added to #UFC215 at @RogersPlace in Edmonton!@EdmontonSun article: https://t.co/boDxUc4Rv0 pic.twitter.com/1HUtz8n40G
— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) June 28, 2017
Ngannou is one of the top heavyweight prospects in the last few years, boasting a 10-1 record and undefeated since joining the company in 2015. All five of his wins in UFC have come by knockout in either the first or second round.
This will be the biggest test to date for Ngannou, who recently moved to Las Vegas to "get ready for the next level" of his career. He gets a fighter in dos Santos who is coming off a TKO loss to champion Stipe Miocic and who has held the title twice before. Although he is in a pattern of alternating wins and losses over his last seven fights, dos Santos brings a boxer's mentality to the Octagon, having 12 of his 18 MMA wins come by way of knockout.
UFC also announced Ilir Latifi will face undefeated Tyson Pedro in a light heavyweight showdown.
