UFC 260: Stipe Miocic (c) vs. Francis Ngannou
UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic is the baddest man on the planet, the daddest man on the planet, and against Francis Ngannou, he’s in the biggest rematch on the planet. There’s only one problem: in the past three years, Miocic has fought only one man. Daniel Cormier. Sure, he has fought Cormier three consecutive times, but it’s awfully hard to develop as a fighter while focused on a single opponent.
The good news here is that against Ngannou, Miocic is up against the last man he fought prior to the DC trilogy. It’s a fight Miocic has won once before. Who has developed more? That’s where things get interesting.
Following his first fight against Miocic, Ngannou lost one of the dullest heavyweight fights of all time against Derrick Lewis. “The Predator” looked as if Arnold Schwarzenegger himself had taken away his will to fight. Bad puns aside, it was a bad fight — a rarity with Ngannou. But he bounced back, putting together a four-fight win streak against Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Read: two former champs, and two rising contenders.
That having been said, there doesn’t appear to be any new wrinkles to Ngannou’s game since his first fight with Miocic. His cardio hasn’t really been tested; all four wins came in the opening around, and he lost the only fight to go the distance, against Lewis. Miocic, meanwhile, went the distance with Cormier in his last bout, and finished Cormier in the fourth round the fight prior to that. It’s hard to see this fight being overly different from Miocic vs. Ngannou 1, unless Ngannou lands the knockout blow early.
And yet, surprisingly, the odds are favoring Francis Ngannou at UFC 260. At least, that’s how the betting public appears to see it.
Prediction: Miocic retains.
