The most terrifying heavyweight in the UFC is not the heavyweight champion. That title belongs to the number one contender. I don’t think anyone doubts that the most terrifying heavyweight is Francis Ngannou (15-3).
The top contender has won four straight fights in under 71 seconds. Watching Ngannou makes me think of the Rocky 4 line, “Whatever he hits, he destroys.” When he’s on and focused, nobody in the UFC has had an answer for Ngannou.
Well, nobody but the heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic (20-3). Miocic and Ngannou first fought in the headliner of UFC 220 back in January of 2018. Ngannou was coming off of a knockout over Alistair Overeem where he sent his head to the moon.
Despite the fact that Miocic was a dominant champion, Ngannou went into the fight as the betting favorite. Ngannou had destroyed everything that was put in front of him by the UFC. For that reason, the oddsmakers figured this fight would be the same.
However, Miocic had different plans. Miocic took some good shots in the first round. But, the champ proved to Ngannou that he wasn’t going to be easy to put away. As the minutes kept going, Stipe Miocic was still in front of Ngannou.
What resulted was a five-round humbling loss for Francis Ngannou at UFC 220. This 25 minute experience was incredibly important to Ngannou and he believes that will be key for his redemption at UFC 260.
Will Ngannou get redemption at UFC 260?
Ngannou was on the Joe Rogan Experience yesterday where he talked about his journey from Cameroon to being the top UFC heavyweight contender. When asked about the first fight with Miocic, Ngannou said the first fight is key to his redemption.
“The Redemption,” Ngannou said of the rematch. “I had two feelings from that fight. First, I was upset and disappointed. However, since that day, I look back at that fight and say, ‘This is good.’ I learned so much from that fight.”
Ngannou also talked about the fact that he spent more time in the cage at UFC 220 than he had previously in his entire career. That experience has changed the way he prepares and he believes that the world will see the difference on March 27th.
Of course, Ngannou has a tall mountain to climb to wrestle the title away from Stipe Miocic. Ngannou might be the betting favorite again at UFC 260, but if we’ve learned anything about the champion, it’s never doubt him. He has a habit of proving people wrong.