Francis Ngannou made his claim to being the No. 1 heavyweight contender in the UFC, finishing former champion Cain Velasquez at UFC Phoenix.
The event marked the first main card to air on ESPN under the new television agreement between the UFC and the sports giant.
Ngannou connected and stopped Velasquez in just 26 seconds. Velasquez also suffered an apparent knee injury during the end of the fight.
In the co-main event, Paul Felder picked up a decision over James Vick, while Vicente Luque and Bryan Barberena engaged in an epic “Fight of the Year’ contender.
Complete results are below:
Francis Ngannou def. Cain Velasquez via KO (strike) at :26 of Round 1
Paul Felder def. James Vick via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Cynthia Calvillo def. Cortney Casey via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Kron Gracie def. Alex Caceres via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:06 of Round 1
Vicente Luque def. Bryan Barberena TKO (strikes) at 4:54 of Round 3
Andre Fili def. Myles Jury via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Aljamain Sterling def. Jimmie Rivera via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Manny Bermudez def. Benito Lopez via submission (modified guillotine choke) at 3:09 of Round 1
Andrea Lee def. Ashlee Evan-Smith via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Nik Lentz def. Scott Holtzman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Luke Sanders def. Renan Barao via KO (strike) at 1:01 of Round 2
Emily Whitmire def. Aleksandra Albu via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:01 of Round 1