The hardest-hitting heavyweight in UFC history just KO'd his UFC 249 opponent in 20 seconds. A title shot now beckons.

• Francis Ngannou just knocked out Jairzinho Rozenstruik in 20 seconds.
• The fight took place at an empty venue in Florida, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Ngannou's performance was so fast, so furious, that a second shot at the UFC heavyweight championship beckons.
• Watch the quick-fire knockout win below.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Jairzinho Rozenstruik spent longer in recovery, awkwardly propped up against the Octagon fence after being terrifyingly knocked out by Francis Ngannou, than he did in the actual fight itself.

The heavyweight bout had always been billed as a collision of hard-hitting giants, with Rozenstruik putting his unbeaten run on the line against Ngannou's status as the most-devastating striker in UFC history.

And boy, it delivered.

It delivered so much that the fight only lasted 20 seconds — and that includes the amount of time Rozenstruik was knocked out on his feet by a thudding Ngannou left hand, before the Cameroon big man attacked his opponent with six follow-ups.

"When I heard him call me out I knew he didn't know what he was doing," Ngannou told the UFC commentator Joe Rogan in the middle of the Octagon after his quick-fire victory behind-closed-doors at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday, May 9.

"He has a lot of potential but he needs to take a step back and get ready for someone like me," Ngannou said, adding he wasn't even chasing the KO.

"I had fun out there, it wasn't something I was chasing. When I chase the knockout, it doesn't work, so I don't chase anymore."

The punches were so brutal you could hear each one land as Ngannou put together his fight-ending flurry, exacerbated by the lack of crowd noise in the empty venue.

Watch Ngannou's 20-second finish here:

—UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) May 10, 2020

Here:

—Barstool Johnny (@BarstoolJD) May 10, 2020

The aftermath is here:

—UFC (@ufc) May 10, 2020

A title shot beckons for Francis Ngannou

Ngannou fought for the UFC heavyweight championship before, losing a unanimous decision to then-champ Stipe Miocic at UFC 226 in 2018.

Though Ngannou lost a second successive fight later that year, he has since rebounded with extraordinary first round finishes against Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, and Junior dos Santos.

Adding his Rozenstruik scalp to his run means he is well-poised to fight for the title once again, once again held by Miocic.

"I don't know what it takes to have a title shot in the UFC," Ngannou said. "I've made my peace with that.

"It's not that I don't care, but I don't want to feel like something is controlling me. With or without a title shot, I'm still a fighter and still have what I have and can make a statement."

And make a statement tonight, in Florida, he did.

Read more:

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Francis Ngannou says his unprecedented knockout power is a result of child labor in Cameroon

Conor McGregor texted the UFC boss Dana White saying he's desperate to fight on 'Fight Island'

We counted 18 safety measures the UFC has in place for UFC 249, and people have already been filmed getting swabs for COVID-19

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