Cameroon’s Francis Ngannou is set to take on Stipe Miocic from Croatia in a rematch at UFC 260 for the World Heavyweight Championship title on March 27 at the UFC Apex in Nevada, Las Vegas.
Both men already faced off once for the title in January 2018, and Miocic emerged as the winner on the day following an unanimous points decision. Since then, a lot has changed, and the exact amount of change will be seen on Saturday when these two men face off.
Ngannou has had it tough in life, as he was born and brought up in rural Cameroon. The Predator, as he is known took 14 months to travel from Cameroon to France where he lived in a parking lot.
He traveled as an illegal immigrant through Nigeria, Niger, Algeria, Morocco, Spain, and France before he was picked up by proper coaches who trained him in boxing, then he moved on to the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and then UFC.
Ngannou is widely regarded as the most physically gifted fighter on the UFC roster ever. His humble background helps to keep him grounded as he seeks revenge over Miocic, who defeated him in their past fight.
He says he cannot bear to watch the clips of his last fight with Miocic because he does not like how it went, and he knows he has to win the belt to satisfy himself on how his childhood was not all that bad for him. Ngannou’s tremendous punching power has seen him spend less than a round in all of his last four bouts combined.
He defeated Jairzinho Rozenstruik in only 20 seconds in May 2020, Junior dos Santos in 71 seconds in June 2019, Cain Velasquez in 26 seconds in February 2019 and Curtis Blaydes in 45 seconds in November 2018. People involved in betting on MMA have put Ngannou down as the favourite for this battle due to his form.
The Nigerian Nightmare, Kamaru Usman is expected to be in Ngannou’s corner after he traveled down from Denver to give him his support.
Ngannou’s opponent, the Croatian-American Stipe Miocic is no pushover himself, and was able to get a points victory over Ngannou last time out in January 2018. Miocic has a 20-3 record in the UFC and holds a host of heavyweight records.
He has the most UFC heavyweight title defenses with his 4 successful defenses of his title. Miocic is a formidable opponent to anyone, and he has shown his expertise in winning rematches after all three of his last fights have been against Daniel Cormier in each of the last three years, and he won all three.
He has a 3-0 record in rematches since making his UFC bow. Miocic has been named as the underdog for the fight by most of the UFC world, but Miocic is unfazed by the predictions as he has perfected his strategy to take on the Predator from Cameroon. Miocic has won all four of his previous championship fights where he was listed as the underdog before the fight.
Miocic versus Ngannou 2 promises to be a spectacle as it may come down to a battle of wits for both men to determine who emerges UFC world heavyweight champion on Saturday.
