Tag: Stipe Miocic vs Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou Promises ‘Things Will Be Different’ At UFC 260

Francis NgannouFrancis Ngannou believes he has put in the work to ensure the outcome will be different in his rematch with Stipe Miocic. Ngannou and Miocic first clashed at UFC 220 in January 2018. Going into the fight, Ngannou had torn through the heavyweight division, picking up six straight stoppages without seeing the third round. However, […]

Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou believes he has put in the work to ensure the outcome will be different in his rematch with Stipe Miocic.

Ngannou and Miocic first clashed at UFC 220 in January 2018. Going into the fight, Ngannou had torn through the heavyweight division, picking up six straight stoppages without seeing the third round. However, all that momentum came to a screeching halt when he was forced to spend almost the entirety of the title fight underneath Miocic, eating shots on the way to a clear decision loss.

During the UFC 260 pre-fight press conference, Ngannou gave Miocic his due credit, but said it’s hard for him to even watch that performance back (H/T MMA Fighting).

“Obviously, I’m not taking credit off Stipe, he was the better fighter that night, but when I look at that fight, I don’t recognize myself,” Ngannou said. “Even the way that I’m fighting, the way that I’m rushing, that guy looked like me, but I don’t recognize that style.

“Also, I did a lot of mistakes leading up to that fight. I wasn’t even there myself. I didn’t even have emotion in that fight. I don’t know. I was just there, [a] lack of emotion. This time things will be different. I had enough time, me and my team we put everything right, and I think it’s going to be right.”

After following the Miocic loss with an extremely lackluster performance against Derrick Lewis, Ngannou made the shift to start working with the coaches at Xtreme Couture full-time. The move has paid dividends, as Ngannou has since knocked out his last four opponents in less than three minutes combined. On top of that, Ngannou believes they have addressed the holes in his games, most notably his takedown defense and cardio.

“There’s difference in all of the aspects,” Ngannou said about his improvements. “I remember leading up to that fight, I was thinking about how it feels to fight a [five]-round fight. I had a lot of questions unanswered. I didn’t have any experience on that. Even if I lost that night, I came back, there was a part of me who wasn’t happy but satisfied for the fact that I can do it. If I make it right, I can get there.

“I don’t have that concern anymore. I had a better preparation this time and I have that experience. I put some good work on my wrestling, jiu-jitsu, even striking so I think skill wise, I have improved a lot and I still have a lot of places to move in this sport. I may be 34 years old, but I believe that I’m very young in this sport and I have a lot of places to grow.”

Thanks to the improvements he’s made, the narrative heading into the Miocic rematch remains the same as it was before their first meeting over three years ago: Francis Ngannou is an unstoppable force destined to rule over the division for years to come. In fact, people seem so sure of an Ngannou victory that they’re already arguing over what his next fight will be. Will Miocic be given a chance to complete the trilogy? Or will Jon Jones get an immediate title shot in his new division? Even UFC president Dana White doesn’t seem to have an answer.

“We’ll see what happens,” White said. “We’ll see how this thing plays out. It would be tough to say no, [Stipe Miocic] doesn’t deserve the rematch. Of course [he deserves it]. Yeah, I don’t know.”

Who do you think wins the Francis Ngannou-Stipe Miocic rematch? Let us know!

Francis Ngannou Explains What Biggest Difference Would Be In Stipe Miocic Rematch

Francis Ngannou wants another shot at Stipe Miocic and knows thins would go differently a second time around. Of course, the two fought back at UFC 220 in January of 2018 where many thought Ngannou would go in and knock out Miocic. Yet, that was far from the case as Miocic dominated the fight from […]

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Francis Ngannou wants another shot at Stipe Miocic and knows thins would go differently a second time around.

Of course, the two fought back at UFC 220 in January of 2018 where many thought Ngannou would go in and knock out Miocic. Yet, that was far from the case as Miocic dominated the fight from the get-go and won by unanimous decision. He exploited the Cameroonian’s wrestling defense and won the fight, 50-44 on all three judge’s scorecards.

Now, almost two years later, Ngannou is confident he has gotten better.

“The biggest difference now is that I have increased my experience and I understand more about the fighting game. My biggest change would be not to underestimate Stipe as I did before,” Ngannou said to MMA Fighting. “The difference would be how to prepare to fight and then how to [condition] my body in training camp as a challenger. How to set up everything compared to the first time.

“Once again, the first time was a mess. I didn’t know what I was doing there. It helped me to understand a lot of things, It helped me to learn. It helped to understand a lot of things. To know how things work.”

But, whether or not Ngannou would get the next title shot against Miocic is to be seen. Of course, the Daniel Cormier-Miocic trilogy fight is always there, but Ngannou is not worried about that happening as he says he deserves the shot first.

“My concern is not about Daniel Cormier having a trilogy,” Ngannou said. “They can have a trilogy or a four-ogy or a five-ogy, whatever they want to. My concern is just about my turn, about my title fight. I can fight Stipe and then the fight after [can be the trilogy] I don’t have no problem with that. My only problem is me fighting for the title. I deserve it.

“I deserve it based on my last three performances. I’m just expecting the title shot. Then whatever happens between DC and Stipe, if they decide to solve it, I don’t have a problem with that. I will be excited to see that trilogy but right now I have to fight for the title, which makes sense.”

Do you think Francis Ngannou vs. Stipe Miocic 2 would go differently?

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Derrick Lewis Claps Back At Francis Ngannou’s Callout

Derrick Lewis is apparently sick of playing games with Francis Ngannou. After Lewis repeatedly called out the hulking Cameroonian in the weeks after Ngannou lost his title bid against current UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic at January’s UFC 220, Ngannou recently revealed he was ready to meet “The Black Beast,” imploring Lewis’ management to get […]

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Derrick Lewis is apparently sick of playing games with Francis Ngannou.

After Lewis repeatedly called out the hulking Cameroonian in the weeks after Ngannou lost his title bid against current UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic at January’s UFC 220, Ngannou recently revealed he was ready to meet “The Black Beast,” imploring Lewis’ management to get the ball rolling.

Today, Lewis replied while smoking a cigar in Jamaica, poking at Ngannou by saying someone should translate that he wants the fight to him while using a couple classic Yoel Romero hashtags:

@francisngannou it’s about time someone translated to you that I’ve been wanting this fight since last year #seeyousoonboy #iuhhyou

Ngannou had won all six of his UFC bouts by vicious stoppage prior to facing Miocic, an elite champion who showed “The Predator” what a true top mixed martial arts skillset looks like.

Lewis has won 10 of his 13 total UFC bouts and recently rebounded from a TKO loss to Mark Hunt by destroying Marcin Tybura at February’s UFC Austin. He’s repeatedly criticized Ngannou’s supposed gassing against Miocic, but “The Black Beast” has also been pegged as someone who falters when taken to the later rounds.

Both their styles are all-out, explosive, and knockout-focused, making this potential match-up one of the most explosive heavyweights fights the UFC could put on.

Should the UFC capitalize on the online heat and book the fight right away?

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Francis Ngannou Tells ‘S*** Talking’ Derrick Lewis He’s Ready To Battle

Following his disappointing UFC 220 loss to heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic earlier this year, Francis Ngannou has been trolled and called out by Derrick Lewis multiple times. And now, “The Predator” appears ready to accept the challenge: Derrick has been talking some of his sh*t while I was off . Can someone please let him […]

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Following his disappointing UFC 220 loss to heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic earlier this year, Francis Ngannou has been trolled and called out by Derrick Lewis multiple times.

And now, “The Predator” appears ready to accept the challenge:

Prior to dropping a loss to Miocic, Ngannou had taken the heavyweight division by storm, winning six-straight UFC bouts with all ending by way of stoppage. His marquee win came this past December when he brutally knocked out veteran Alistair Overeem in the co-main event of UFC 218 in Detroit, Michigan.

Lewis, on the other hand, was riding a six-fight winning streak heading into a bout against legendary striker Mark Hunt last June, although he was finished by “The Super Samoan” in the fourth round of their headlining bout. Most recently, he bounced back with a vicious TKO victory over Marcin Tybura last month in Austin, Texas.

Would you like to see Ngannou and Lewis square off next?

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UFC 220 PPV Buyrate On Par With UFC 219

The heavyweight title fight that seemingly everyone was talking about prior to it happening brought in pretty disappointing in PPV sales. Well, maybe not in this era of low pay-per-view sales. With the numbers now available, Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting reports that UFC 220 did a measly 340,000 to 380,000 PPV buys, with UFC […]

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The heavyweight title fight that seemingly everyone was talking about prior to it happening brought in pretty disappointing in PPV sales.

Well, maybe not in this era of low pay-per-view sales.

With the numbers now available, Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting reports that UFC 220 did a measly 340,000 to 380,000 PPV buys, with UFC 219 doing similar numbers.

Much has been made lately about the UFC in a post-ZUFFA world, as talent mega-agency WME-IMG’s new ownership has taken the promotion in a different direction. With less superstars readily available, they seem to stack a card with belts, of varying significance, like they did with UFC 219 which featured a women’s featherweight title fight between Cyborg and Holly Holm.

A co-main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Edson Barboza was incredible but clearly didn’t add to any kind of draw for UFC 219.

UFC 220 featured the aforementioned heavyweight title fight between Miocic and Ngannou as well as light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier running roughshod on Volkan Oezdemir. But Cormier has never been the draw that Jon Jones was when he held the belt, and Miocic has always been a bit stale on the mic, meaning he lets his fists do the promoting; you won’t hear much trash talk or hype coming from Miocic.

That said, there seems to be a continued trend of abysmal pay-per-views lately. Is it just a blip or is it a sign of things to come?

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UFC 220 Salaries: Stipe Miocic Banks Big Payday

UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic was looking to get paid what he deserved heading into his potentially record-breaking title defense against Francis Ngannou at January 20’s UFC 220 from Boston, Massachusetts. And after he took care of business by dominating the previously-hyped specimen, it appears that Miocic has at least taken a big step in […]

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UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic was looking to get paid what he deserved heading into his potentially record-breaking title defense against Francis Ngannou at January 20’s UFC 220 from Boston, Massachusetts.

And after he took care of business by dominating the previously-hyped specimen, it appears that Miocic has at least taken a big step in that direction after becoming the heavyweight titleholder with the most consecutive defenses in octagon history.

Figures were released via MMA Fighting tonight showing that Miocic made $600,000 for beating Ngannou. “The Predator” made $500,000 in his loss. Also at UFC 220, light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier earned $500,000 for his dominant second-round finish of Volkan Oezdemir, who made $250,000 for his first UFC defeat.

Here are the complete official UFC 220 salaries:

Disclaimer: The figures below do not reflect the fighters’ total earnings, as they may earn other income from the Reebok apparel deal and outside sponsorships, pay-per-view revenues, or discretionary ‘locker room’ bonuses the UFC sometimes gives following events.

Main Card (Pay-per-view):
Stipe Miocic ($600,000 + no win bonus = $600,000) def. Francis Ngannou ($500,000)
Daniel Cormier ($500,000 + no win bonus = $500,000) def. Volkan Oezdemir ($350,000)
Calvin Kattar ($14,000 + $14,000 = $28,000) def. Shane Burgos ($22,000)
Gian Villante ($50,000 + $50,000 = $100,000) def. Francimar Barroso ($27,000)
Rob Font ($30,000 + $30,000 = $60,000) def. Thomas Almeida ($36,000)

Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1):
Kyle Bochniak ($12,000 + $12,000 = $24,000) def. Brandon Davis ($10,000)
Abdul Razak Alhassan ($20,000 + $20,000 = $40,000) def. Sabah Homasi ($12,000)
Dustin Ortiz ($30,000 + $30,000 = $60,000) def. Alexandre Pantoja ($14,000)
Julio Arce ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Dan Ige ($10,000)

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass):
Enrique Barzola ($21,000 + $21,000 = $42,000) def. Matt Bessette ($12,000)
Islam Makhachev ($16,000 + $16,000 = $32,000) def. Gleison Tibau ($50,000)

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