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Francis Ngannou has looked back on where he went wrong against Stipe Miocic in their first fight. Ngannou suggested that hunting for the knockout was one of the biggest mistakes he made in that fight.
The first fight between Francis Ngannou and Stipe Miocic transpired at UFC 220 in January 2018. The fight witnessed Miocic successfully defend his UFC heavyweight title by defeating Ngannou via unanimous decision. Ngannou and Miocic are now set to compete in a rematch at UFC 260 later this month.
Ahead of his UFC 260 matchup, where he’ll face Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title, Francis Ngannou spoke to BT Sport on a myriad of topics.
During the interview, BT Sport’s Adam Catterall noted that none of Francis Ngannou’s last four fights have lasted more than 71 seconds. Catterall proceeded to ask Ngannou whether his upcoming fight would go longer than that or end early. Ngannou responded by stating:
“Hopefully, end up short. But I don’t want to put that in my mind, basically, leading up to this fight – Because last time, I went there, and this was one of the biggest mistakes that I did. Back there, I went there to knock him (Stipe Miocic) out, which is something that I never did even though almost all my fights have been knock out. But he (the knockout) always came by himself. I never find it. I never found it. And for once that I found it, didn’t go well. And it just came back. You know, my last four fights, I didn’t call them to be a first-round knockout, and they ended up being a first-round knockout. So, let’s see how this one plays out.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
In a nutshell, Francis Ngannou alluded to being prepared to fight Stipe Miocic for the entire five-round duration of the fight if need be, unlike chasing the KO like their previous encounter.
Francis Ngannou vs. Stipe Miocic – A war for heavyweight gold
The UFC heavyweight title is regarded as one of the biggest prizes in all of combat sports. Additionally, the heavyweight division in the sport of MMA is considered by many as one of the most unpredictable and dangerous weight classes in the fight game.
Needless to say, reigning UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and his opponent, Francis Ngannou, aim to walk out of UFC 260 with UFC heavyweight gold.
Francis Ngannou has asserted that his aim is to avenge his loss to Stipe Miocic and win the title, whereas Miocic plans on replicating the success he previously had against Ngannou. The Miocic vs. Ngannou UFC heavyweight title rematch headlines UFC 260 at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada on March 27th, 2021.
