Francis Ngannou is set to rematch Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 260 and he has reflected back on the first meeting.
At UFC 220, Ngannou and Miocic met with many expecting Ngannou to go out there and KO the heavyweight champ. However, that is far from what happened as Miocic used footwork to avoid the shots and used his wrestling to take down Ngannou over and over again.
Now, ahead of the rematch, Ngannou looked back on the first fight and admitted he just wasn’t ready for it.
“For the Stipe fight, I think I rush for the first round,” Ngannou said on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast (via MMAFighting). “Now I’m like, ‘Damn, I had five rounds. Why should I rush and run out of gas?’ Looking at that fight, I watch that fight, I see the guy look like me, but I don’t recognize myself because it’s not the way that I fight. I look back at other fights and it looks like two different persons.
“The way that I used to fight I was kind of calm, I’d push the fight and let myself get into fight and if there’s an opportunity – most of the time my opponent will be the first to attack. But this one I just rushed in there. So I’m like, I should have calmed down.”
Part of the reason why Ngannou wasn’t ready is the fact he didn’t know how to pace himself for five rounds. However, the number-one contender did say he learned a lot from that fight, as he realized what he needed to work on to work his way back up to a title fight. He is also more confident on how to beat Miocic this time around.
Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou 2 is set to headline UFC 260 on March 27.
How do you think Francis Ngannou will fare in the rematch against Stipe Miocic?
