UFC 218 played host to one of the most brutal knockouts in the promotion's history, and unfortunately for Alistair Overeem, he was on the wrong end of the frightening punch.In one of two main events, Francis Ngannou shocked the world and showed everyone that he was a true contender in the heavyweight division as he knocked out Alistair Overeem in the first round of their contest.A nasty left hook from the Cameroonian-French fighter after 1:42 gone in the first round was enough for him to win the fight by KO. This was the first time we had seen Overeem be knocked out since he faced off inside the Octagon against Miocic at UFC 203 in September last year.He was so impressive that UFC president Dana White confirmed during the postfight presser that The Predator would be the next challenger for UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic, a fight which he definitely deserves and one that will be very interesting to watch.After the conclusion to the fight and once he was in a stable condition following the frightening knockout, Overeem took to Twitter to release a short statement about himself, the fight, and his opponent.The Reem praised his opponent, saying how he knew his 'uppercut from hell' was one of his specialties and that he knew it was going to be very dangerous. He also said he's going to take some time off before deciding what to do next in his career.Overeem said in his statement: "No damage and all healthy thankfully.. unfortunately lost today. Props to @francis_ngannou, I got hit with a uppercut from he**, one of his specialities which we new were very dangerous. Some chill time now before back to the drawing-board ðŸ™ðŸ½"
Ngannou now improves to 6-0 in the UFC following this knockout of Overeem, with all six wins coming by knockout or submission. The Predator is expected to be Miocic's next opponent, so that should be a very interesting fight to watch.
A fight date is yet to be confirmed as of writing for this clash. However, the UFC Heavyweight Champion hasn't fought since he defended his title against Junior dos Santos at UFC 211 in May earlier this year, so a fight between the two could happen sooner rather than later.
Miocic is currently renegotiating his contract with UFC though, so this is a roadblock which is stopping a fight date from being announced for the time being. When they do finally meet inside the Octagon in 2018, he's going to have a very tough fight on his hands against The Predator.
