Francis Ngannou Makes a Bold Prediction for His Fight With Stipe Miocic
Francis Ngannou is just over a week away from competing for a UFC title for the first time in his career but the way he’s talking, it’s like he’s just awaiting his coronation as champion.
The 31-year old knockout artist from Cameroon has gained confidence with each fight he’s had inside the Octagon capped off by his jaw-dropping finish against Alistair Overeem at UFC 218 this past December.
Thus far since joining the UFC roster, Ngannou hasn’t gone past the second round with the majority of his opponents not even making it past the five minute mark in the fight.
Next weekend, Ngannou will be scheduled for a five round fight for the first time as he prepares to take on heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in the main event at UFC 220. While Ngannou believes he’s destined to win the belt, there still remain questions about his ability to compete with somebody like Miocic if this fight goes to the ground or gets past the second round.
For all the hype surrounding Ngannou, there are still plenty of unknowns about what he can do against a top notch wrestler or facing a grueling 25-minute battle against a conditioned machine like Miocic.
“I’ve never been in that level but I always train for that level,” Ngannou explained on the UFC 220 conference call. “When I go to my training camp, I train my conditioning, everything, I prepare a regular fight, for the regular round fight. Even the fight against Alistair Overeem, I was already prepared for five rounds because I knew I was going to have Stipe after that. That is the problem because people always want to believe what they see.”
While he’s anxious to answer those questions, Ngannou doesn’t expect to have any of those struggles at UFC 220.
Ngannou may be training for five rounds but his prediction for the fight is that Miocic will go down like every other fighter he’s faced in his UFC career.
“I think it’s going to be a long time before they really see that because on Jan. 20 I don’t see myself going third round, fourth round,” Ngannou said.
“No, I’m not going to do that. I’m just going to finish Stipe in under two rounds.”
Judging by his record it’s tough to doubt Ngannou at this point as he anxiously awaits his title fight next Saturday night in Boston.
