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Francis Ngannou feels his previous opponent Stipe Miocic is more durable than his former MMA Factory training partner Ciryl Gane.
Ngannou will square off against Gane in the main event of UFC 270 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Saturday. There is a lot of bad blood between the duo, mainly thanks to Fernand Lopez, Ngannou's former and Gane's current coach.
During a recent conversation with BT Sport, 'The Predator' stressed that Miocic had a stronger chin than 'Bon Gamin'. Ngannou claimed Miocic could not be easily knocked out with just one strong punch.
"Yeah, yeah, of course! That [knockout] is my prediction on that two rounds... Going on to the next second fight I know with Stipe he is tough and he might need more than one punch to go to sleep. So you know I might not put him to sleep that easy. But definitely Ciryl does not have the same chin," said Ngannou.
Watch Francis Ngannou in conversation with former UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping below:
Ngannou holds a 16-3 win-loss record in his professional mixed martial arts career so far, while Miocic and Gane are 20-4 and 10-0, respectively. The Cameroonian superstar expects to finish his upcoming French opponent in just two rounds.
Stipe Miocic hasn't fought again inside the octagon since losing to Francis Ngannou in March last year
Francis Ngannou defeated Stipe Miocic via KO at 0:52 of the second round at UFC 260 on March 27th, 2021, to claim the UFC heavyweight championship.
Ngannou will make his first title defense this weekend, while Miocic doesn't have his next fight booked yet. There were reports that the 39-year-old American was offered a bout against Jon Jones, who will be making his heavyweight debut in 2022.
However, the former two-time light heavyweight champion Jones was apparently only interested in fighting for the belt in his 265lb division debut.
It is still unclear if Miocic or 'Bones' will get the next shot at the UFC heavyweight title. Meanwhile, Ngannou could leave the world's biggest MMA promotion even if he defeats Gane at UFC 270 as he's down to the last fight of his current deal.
