Stats:Francis Ngannou didn’t need to be as accurate as Stipe Miocic to win the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 260
Stipe Miocic stuck Francis Ngannou with 12 of his 13 significant strike attempts in the main event of UFC 260 for a landing rate of 94 percent, which was impressive. But as we know, in MMA a high landing percentage doesn’t always translate to a win. And against someone like Ngannou that stat is meaningless if Ngannou can connect with power. That’s what happened in the second round of Ngannou’s matchup opposite Miocic. That power stopped the fight at the 52-second mark of the second round and ended the second title reign of Stipe Miocic.
The result of the rematch between these two differed greatly from the first time they faced off. In that bout, Miocic neutralized the power of his opponent with his wrestling. Miocic controlled much of that contest on the ground and exposed some glaring shortcomings in Ngannou’s all-around fight game.
Heading into UFC 260, Ngannou’s team claimed their fighter had shored up his wrestling, cardio and ability to stay calm inside the octagon. From what we saw in the first round, Ngannou’s team was not exaggerating.
Now that Ngannou has delivered on his promise, the most pressing question facing the heavyweight division is who will the new champ face in his first title defense.
Below, take a look at the final fight stats from the main event bout of UFC 260.
UFC 260 took place Saturday at UFC Apex. The pay-per-view card streamed on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+ and early prelims on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass.