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Stipe Miocic trains, recovers and eats in his room. Vicente Luque works out downstairs from some heavyweights. Francis Ngannou meets his action figure and takes his photographer’s job. Sean O’Malley and Tyron Woodley attend virtual media day.
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ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto sits down with Francis Ngannou ahead of his heavyweight title rematch vs. Stipe Miocic as the two discuss his life in Cameroon, the first bout vs. Stipe and much more.
0:00 Ngannou discusses his journey from Cameroon to the United States.
6:14 What the last three years of his career have been like.
12:04 Describing his mindset heading into the first Miocic fight.
16:02 Ngannou says he wasn’t fully in control during the bout.
17:37 If there should’ve been an interim heavyweight belt.
20:04 How he felt after knocking out Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
24:45 He doesn’t think he landed a clean punch at UFC 220.
29:30 Why looking back at his childhood doesn’t put a smile on his face.
32:45 What he’d do with the title to inspire others.
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Francis Ngannou takes a solo hike, finds a soccer partner, hits mitts and then gets a mani-pedi. Champion Stipe Miocic flies to Las Vegas alongside a fellow heavyweight.
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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Francis Ngannou has been the next big thing in the UFC heavyweight division for several years. Just about everyone believed greatness was within the powerful Cameroonian challenger’s reach if he could ever put his prodigious talents together.
All that potential was realized in six sensational minutes Saturday night when Ngannou took the belt away from the most accomplished fighter in the division’s history.
Ngannou stopped Stipe Miocic with ferocious punches early in the second round to claim the heavyweight title at UFC 260.
A champion dethroned. A new king rises #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/QTwngNPti9
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 28, 2021
Ngannou (11-2) avenged his blowout loss to Miocic in 2018 by demonstrating everything he has learned in the ensuing three years. The first UFC heavyweight champion from Africa flattened Miocic (21-3) twice early in the second, finally buckling the champ’s knees and ending the bout 52 seconds into the round.
THE BADDEST MAN ON THIS OR ANY OTHER PLANET. #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/CwALkGn5ud
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 28, 2021
“Man, it’s amazing,” Ngannou said. “The feeling of it is just great. Imagine something you’ve been waiting for your entire life, and struggling to have it. Sometimes I felt like I was drowning and I had to struggle back, but now we’re here.”
Africa has their first heavyweight champion!
— UFC (@ufc) March 28, 2021
@Francis_Ngannou is the heavyweight king. #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/Db83Z4lIjp
Ngannou won a fairly quiet first round with superior striking and ground work, but there was nothing quiet about the finish.
Ngannou knocked down Miocic 22 seconds into the second round with a crisp left hand to Miocic’s face, but the champion ate several punches to get up. Miocic backpedaled away and even landed a right hand that stung Ngannou, but the challenger loaded up a picture-perfect left hook that bent Miocic’s legs at a gruesome angle and put him on the canvas again, where Ngannou landed one finishing hammer fist.
What a knockout @francis_ngannou!! Hope Stipe is okay tho #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/E6qQ98vI27
— Dance-y Dan (@DnishIdlan) March 28, 2021
“When the journey is longer, the reward is always more appreciated,” Ngannou said. “I’m sure I would have been happy three years ago, but I think now, I have a different perspective about it, being happy about my improvement.”
The violence was exactly what Ngannou’s fans and coaches expected when the long-anticipated changing of the guard atop the heavyweight division finally happened in this rematch of two highly likable fighters.
Ngannou tried to call his mother in Cameroon immediately after the fight, but said he couldn’t get through to her because everyone was “going crazy” celebrating his win.
“I can’t talk to anybody in Cameroon right now,” he said. “It’s a good craziness, for a good reason.”
This was the scene in @francis_ngannou’s hometown of Batié, Cameroon at the moment he became a world champion #UFC260
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 28, 2021
(via fight_and_write/Instagram) pic.twitter.com/EVEUsPNuZC
The 34-year-old Ngannou is a former aspiring boxer who discovered mixed martial arts after he left Cameroon for France in his mid-20s. He rose rapidly through his new sport with his fearsome power and growing all-around skill, but Miocic interrupted his ascent by winning every round of their first bout in Boston.
The loss staggered the confidence of a once-dynamic fighter. He barely threw a punch in his next bout, an embarrassing loss to Derrick Lewis.
But Ngannou impressively regained his confidence later in 2018 and kicked off a run of four consecutive knockout victories against veteran heavyweights, putting him back in line for Miocic.
#AndNew heavyweight champion!
— UFC (@ufc) March 28, 2021
@Francis_Ngannou is the baddest man alive. #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/tOFgCUnxsb
“He was a completely different fighter tonight,” UFC President Dana White said of Ngannou. “We saw things from him we never saw before. He took his time, and even ate that big right hand from Stipe. He looked perfect tonight.”
In the Vegas cage, Ngannou was far too much for Miocic, the firefighter from Cleveland who has been on top of the division for four of the last five years. Miocic’s heavyweight reign has been the best in the history of a notoriously tumultuous UFC division, and he most recently won the final two fights of his trilogy with Daniel Cormier to cement his heavyweight supremacy.
In the co-main event of this pay-per-view show at the UFC Apex gym on the promotion’s corporate campus, former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley lost his fourth consecutive fight when Vicente Luque submitted him with a D’Arce choke late in the first round.
Trading big shots #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/VnCZR0I79c
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 28, 2021
The Silent Assassin! @VicenteLuqueMMA puts Woodley to sleep #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/Gudyd2RlwG
— UFC (@ufc) March 28, 2021
Woodley (19-7-1), who reigned over the 170-pound division for nearly three years until Kamaru Usman took his belt in March 2019, looked sharp early and landed some strong shots before he was staggered and finished by Luque (20-7-1), who has won 13 of his last 15 fights.
Earlier, bantamweight Sugar Sean O’Malley overcame an enormous early mental mistake for a vicious third-round finish of Thomas Almeida.
The accuracy of @SugaSeanMMA is next level #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/OWxXYLMSCV
— UFC (@ufc) March 28, 2021
O’Malley, the thrilling fighter with rainbow-dyed hair, floored Almeida in the first round with a head kick and a big punch — but instead of finishing his opponent on the ground, O’Malley anticipated a stoppage and walked away before realizing the fight hadn’t been stopped.
SEAN TRIED THE WALK OFF BUT IT'S NOT OVER #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/nJtVxGOqN8
— UFC (@ufc) March 28, 2021
When he floored Almeida again in the third, O’Malley briefly tried to walk away again before pouncing and throwing a final punch that bounced Almeida’s head off the canvas.
THE SUGAR SHOW
— UFC (@ufc) March 28, 2021
@SugaSeanMMA adds another highlight to the reel! #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/vbX1aWPzse
"Did that guy just jack my 50 Gs?"@SugaSeanMMA was distracted during this interview with @bokamotoESPN #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/Ax9QhNEL10
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 28, 2021
The UFC is headed to Jacksonville for its next pay-per-view show next month because Florida officials will allow White to sell every seat in an arena, but the promotion still welcomed a few dozen fans to the Apex.
The crowd included Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Megan Fox, Kourtney Kardashian, Travis Barker and former UFC owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta.
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Champ Stipe Miocic customizes his training room. Co-main stars Vicente Luque and Tyron Woodley land in Las Vegas, as does Sean O’Malley. Ngannou wrestles with Jake Shields, and Miocic has an interview interrupted.
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Champ Stipe Miocic works his second job and then does S&C. Francis Ngannou flows in the gym and then spices things up at home. Miocic feasts with his growing family.
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Ahead of UFC 260: Miocic vs. Ngannou, UFC featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski speaks to Submission Radio about his upcoming fight against Brian Ortega, how he sees Alex Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega playing out, Ortega's striking in the Korean Zombie fight, why he's not afraid of T-City's ground game and submissions, the Max Holloway trilogy and Max's comments about being a cloud hanging over UFC 260, if they'll fight again, Israel Adesanya's loss against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 and what he learned, his own move to lightweight in the future, and more!
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UFC featherweight Brian Ortega looked as good as ever in his fight with the Korean Zombie, Chan Sung Jung, at Fight island 6 in October. This performance earned him a title shot against Alexander Volkanovski in the co-main event of UFC 261 on Saturday, March 27.
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UFC 260 Countdown features heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and challenger Francis Ngannou, who prepare to run back their 2018 thriller on Saturday, March 26. Watch these athletes train and prepare for their bout.
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Francis Ngannou faces off with heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic for the second time at UFC 260 on Saturday, March 27. Take a look back to his performance against Alistair Overeem at UFC 218 which produced one of the knockouts of the year in 2017.
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