On March 27 Francis Ngannou will have his second crack at both Stipe Miocic and UFC gold. In the headline of UFC 260, slated to take place at the UFC APEX, Ngannou will look to extend his current win streak to five fights as well as avenge the first loss of his UFC career.
Ngannou first fought Miocic at UFC 220, in 2018. Miocic won that fight with a unanimous decision. Miocic bossed the contest, out wrestling and out working Ngannou who looked exhausted in the championship rounds.
This time around Ngannou has signalled that his wrestling will be improved. And one of the reasons for this is apparently the guidance of reigning UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
On a recent video blog post ‘The Predator’ revealed that Usman has been helping him out and that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ will be cornering him at UFC 260.
“Yeah, so Kamaru Usman’s gonna be in my corner for this fight. So it’s good having him here, helping me out for the fight, by this time you need everything,” said Ngannou (ht BJPenn.com).
“Basically, he is gonna be in my corner and it’s good for him to train where I am and to bring his own asset into the game. This is a very decisive moment leading up to the fight so it is very important to engage with him. He’s gonna be in my corner basically helping me with my wrestling, which is great. So yeah, it’s good.”
Cameroon’s Ngannou entered the UFC with a bang in 2015 KOing Luis Henrique. That was the first in a six fight win streak that included 5 KO/TKOs and 1 submission. The streak culminated in a TKO win over former champion Andrei Arlovski and a sickening KO over Alistair Overeem.
After losing to Miocic, Ngannou lost to Derrick Lewis—in a rather dull affair. Since losing to Lewis, in 2018, Ngannou has gone on a tear. He’s currently riding a four fight win streak with each victory coming by way of first round KO/TKO.
Last time out, at 2020’s UFC 249, he defeated Jairzinho Rozenstruik in just 20 seconds.
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