UFC's journey to China for its first show there ended with a quick and explosive stoppage victory.
Francis Ngannou scored another win over Curtis Blaydes, stopping him in just 45 seconds in the main event of UFC Fight Night Beijing. Ngannou dropped Blaydes with a right hand and simply continued attacking Blaydes until the referee stopped the fight.
Below is a summary of the fight as written by Fightful's David Tees during our live coverage of the entire event, which can be seen at this link:
#3 Curtis Blaydes vs. #4 Francis Ngannou
Round One: The round begins with Ngannou attacking Blaydes with some leg kicks, Ngannou drops Blaydes with a right and Blaydes gets up while eating more strikes. Ngannou drops him a second time and the referee jumps in.
Official Result: #4 Francis Ngannou def. #3 Curtis Blaydes by TKO via strikes (0:44, R1)
Ngannou finally got back to the win column after suffering consecutive losses for the first time in his career. Not only did Ngannou, ranked No. 4 in the official UFC heavyweight rankings, get his first win of 2018, but also his first victory inside the distance since knocking out Alistair Overeem at UFC 218 last year.
Unfortunately for Blaydes, the loss sets him back in his journey towards a UFC title opportunity. The two previously fought in the octagon in 2016 with Ngannou also picking up the stoppage win. Since then, Blaydes was unbeaten in his following six fights (five wins and one no contest), but now that streak is over.
After the fight, Ngannou said he would love to have a rematch against former UFC champion Stipe Miocic. The two fought for the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 220 back in January with Miocic retaining his title at the time with a unanimous decision victory.
In the co-main event, Overeem snapped his own losing streak by scoring a first-round TKO victory over Sergei Pavlovich. Overeem has not won since scoring a decision win over Fabrício Werdum at UFC 213 in 2017.
