After three fights with Daniel Cormier, Stipe Miocic faces off against Francis Ngannou in what is arguably the most highly anticipated rematch we could be handed in the UFC right now.
Miocic comfortably won the last time he faced the Cameroonian, with a unanimous decision victory back in January 2018. Described by Cormier as the “greatest UFC heavyweight fighter of all time”, Miocic has an excellent standup game, with 75% of his career wins coming by way of knockout, and as he proved against Ngannou, he can mix it up and put on a true mixed martial arts masterclass.
The champion goes into the fight as the underdog, despite winning eight of his last nine fights and holding the record for most consecutive UFC heavyweight title defences, but the argument here is how the challenger has learned and only improved since that defeat and, in truth, he has done and then some.
Ngannou is the hardest hitting fighter in the history of the UFC and his world record strike is the equivalent to 96 horsepower, basically meaning if he hits you, it’s over. “The Predator” has never won by decision, with all his 15 wins in his MMA career coming by a stoppage, as you would expect. Since facing criticism for one of the worst fights of all time in his loss to Derrick Lewis, Ngannou has recorded four consecutive first round wins by knockout, picking up three Performance of the Night awards.
Ultimately, Ngannou needs to do what he didn’t do against Miocic last time and that’s just swing for the bleachers. The Paris fighter shouldn’t be ashamed of his inability to compete with somebody of Miocic’s standard, as the Ohio native has perfected his craft over many, many years more than Ngannou, whilst the challenger only got into MMA eight years ago, simply because he could punch hard.
So, punch hard and accurately, he must and he can’t stand there and fight with Miocic, because that’s how he lost last time. Now, we think he’s learned his lesson and will knock out the American.