In one of those "ask and you shall receive" moments, Francis Ngannou has finally got an opponent to fight against and it's the man who has been actively calling him out - Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Brett Okamoto of ESPN confirmed that The Predator will be taking on Rozenstruik at UFC Columbus on March 28th in the main event.
The Surinamese Heavyweight jumped from the #14 to #5 following his nail-biting knockout victory over veteran Alistair Overeem. Before the Overeem fight and immediately after it, Rozenstruik called out The Predator for a fight, convinced that he has what it takes to knock him out.
Ngannou acknowledged him after the callout and was open to the fight. He has been itching to fight for a while now, complaining that the Heavyweight division is too scared to face him. He appeared to be interested in a fight against Alexander Volkov, but Rozenstruik is a fight that simply makes more sense now.
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The reality is that Ngannou is under no obligation to accept a fight against anyone. UFC is currently planning Stipe Miocic vs Daniel Cormier's third trilogy bout and Cormier said that he would ideally like to fight in June but the situation is a bit tricky.
This means that Ngannou may have to wait until early 2021 or late 2020 to get a title shot even though he's currently the most deserving contender. Either way, The Predator fears no one and is currently riding a 3-fight win streak, having scalped first-round knockouts of Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, and Junior Dos Santos. The former two were finished in under one minute while the former champion Dos Santos was finished in 1 minute and 11 seconds of the first round.
Rozenstruik is all set for the biggest challenge of his career and from the look of things, he's prepared. However, will he be able to get through the most dangerous man in the Heavyweight division?