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UFC: Francis Ngannou knocks out Cain Velasquez in just 26 seconds

By Alex Butler
UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou knocks out Cain Velasquez in the first round of UFC Fight Night on Sunday in Phoenix. Photo courtesy of UFC/Facebook
UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou knocks out Cain Velasquez in the first round of UFC Fight Night on Sunday in Phoenix. Photo courtesy of UFC/Facebook

Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Francis Ngannou needed just 26 seconds to dispatch Cain Velasquez at UFC Fight Night.

Ngannou dropped his counterpart via knockout in the heavyweight main event Sunday in Phoenix. Velasquez had time to land just one strike before hitting the floor of the octagon. Ngannou landed six of his 10 strike attempts, all to Velasquez's head.

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"The Predator" threw a left-handed punch over Velasquez's head at the start of the sequence, but landed his right hand on the back of Velasquez's head. He got in a few more right-handed punches before Velasquez collapsed. His knee appeared to give out during the sequence.

Ngannou now owns a 12-3 record in UFC, while Velasquez dropped to 14-3. The bout with Ngannou was Velasquez's first fight since July 2016, when he knocked out Travis Browne.

"The game plan was just to move around and not let him grab me, or my leg, and strike," Ngannou told UFC. "Let him come to me. I wasn't like moving forward, I was just observing and it just happened."

"I stood a little too close too early," Velasquez said. "That's when he's dangerous. That's how it happened. What are you going to do?"

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