BREAKING: Francis Ngannou Wins Completes 3 African Warriors At UFC Arena – #UFC260—In a fierce rematch battle at UFC arena,Cameroon’s Ngannou left no doubt that he had become the best heavyweight on the planet, knocking out Miocic with a brutal sequence of strikes in the second round to claim heavyweight gold.
The Genius Media Nigeria reports that the bout was a rematch of their 2018 meeting at UFC 220, where American Miocic dominated Ngannou over five rounds for a landslide unanimous decision victory in Boston.
Ngannou cracked Miocic several times in the first round, landing massive punches that Miocic absorbed while seeming unaffected. Rather than panic, Francis Ngannou rode forward to the second round, landing a big jab that sent Miocic stumbling to the cage. Moments later, a crushing left hook sent Miocic to the canvas and a follow-up hammerfist on the ground left Miocic out cold at the 52 second mark of Round 2.
The finishing sequence almost seemed as though it was taking a sudden turn. As Ngannou attempted to follow up on the jab that rocked Miocic, Miocic was able to land a heavy counter punch that seemed to stumble Ngannou. As Miocic attempted to charge forward, that was when FrancisNgannou unleashed the brutal hook that sent Miocic crashing backward with his leg bent at an awkward angle to set up the finish.
After six straight stoppage victories, his first title shot against Miocic in 2018 fell short as his relative lack of MMA experience counted against him. But, in the rematch, FrancisNgannou came of age as he flattened Miocic to become only the third Africa-born champion in UFC history, joining welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, who was in Francis Ngannou’s corner on fight night, and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
After his victory, Ngannou said he was willing to face the man considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, Jon Jones, who is expected to move up to heavyweight to challenge for the title later this year.
“For my opinion, Jon Jones is the greatest of all time in mixed martial arts. Him moving up is going to be a good thing,” he said.
“He’s a challenge I will take and it will be a very good thing on the resume. But this time he is the challenger. I am the champ. He’s coming up, looking for me.
“So I’m ready any time soon. Even summer, I will be here, ready to fight in July or August. Whenever they are ready, I’m ready. He said something, ‘Show me the money’. Show the money and we’ll go, baby. I’m here.”
Following the defeat by Miocic in their first fight, Ngannou split from his long-time coach Lopez and focused his training exclusively at Las Vegas gym Xtreme Couture under Eric Nicksick.
After a drab decision loss to Derrick Lewis at UFC 226, Ngannou regained his form and reeled off four straight knockout victories with wins over former heavyweight champions Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos, plus top contenders Curtis Blaydes and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, in a combined time of just two minutes and 42 seconds to position himself for a championship rematch with Miocic.
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Let’s FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOO #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/BmZTJHD7zQ
— Clay (@CassiusClayKO) March 28, 2021
