UFC 260: Francis Ngannou expects even better Stipe Miocic in heavyweight title rematch – ‘he’s a smart guy’
- ‘The Predator’ preparing for five rounds again, after champ’s dominant unanimous decision in 2018
- ‘I’m expecting it to be shorter than that,’ says Ngannou – ‘I have good tools to respond to everything he might have’
Francis Ngannou got something of a rude awakening when he first came up against Stipe Miocic three years ago – but “The Predator” insists he’s got the answer to dethrone the UFC heavyweight champ this time.
The pair meet in the main event of UFC 260 on Saturday night in Las Vegas, with “The Predator” (15-3) finally getting his rematch after smashing his way back into title contention with a series of brutal first-round knockouts.
No one has had an answer for the Cameroonian’s power since that dominant unanimous decision win for Miocic, when the Croatian-American (20-3) seemed to have Ngannou’s number, utilising his wrestling to neutralise him and tire him out over five rounds.
“I think I have a really good base, have good tools in my bag to respond to everything he might have,” Ngannou said, however. “I’m expecting it to be shorter than that, but I was preparing for the full five rounds because last time I had to go to five rounds.”
Ngannou has undoubtedly improved after that defeat – and the strange hesitance he showed in an odd unanimous decision defeat by Derrick Lewis in July 2018, where both men stood off each other for most of the three rounds.
He is 4-0 since, but with just two minutes and 42 seconds of total cage time, with 34 significant strikes landed and 11 significant strikes absorbed – which belies the big adjustments he has made training at Xtreme Couture MMA in Las Vegas.