Stipe Miocic feels disrespected as UFC wants Ngannou to beat him.
UFC 220 event will headline UFC heavyweight title bout between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou on Jan. 20 at TD Garden in Boston.
If Stipe Miocic manages to grab a win over Francis Ngannou at UFC 220, he’ll become the first fighter in UFC history to defend the heavyweight title three consecutive times.
As per oddsmakers, Stipe Miocic is a considered an underdog heading into his heavyweight title defense against Francis Ngannou at UFC 220- but that’s just fine with Miocic.
Moreover, Miocic feels little disrespected as UFC’s main hype is on Punching power Francis Ngannou during the promotions of UFC 220.
Stipe Miocic is recently speaking at The MMA Hour when asked if he feels the UFC wants titan Ngannou to win their main event bout.
“Obviously, for sure,” Miocic said. “Listen, I feel a little bit disrespected, but I’m not going to dwell on it.”
“He’s got more hype on him I guess,” Miocic said. “The guy hits super hard. We’re making a big thing about it. I’ve fought some good guys, you know? That’s how we are. I’m not much of a trash talker I just like to fight, that’s what I do.”
“All the pressure is on him, honestly. … The best guys he’s faced, I knocked them out two years ago. So, whatever.”
Miocic said UFC needs to come up with some sort of ideas to hype the bout since he’s not one to engage in phony trash talk.
In fact, Miocic has already faced the likes of Junior dos Santos (twice), Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Andrei Arlovski, Mark Hunt and Roy Nelson over the course of his UFC career.
Stipe Miocic hasn’t fought since UFC 211 after beating Junior dos Santos.
Ngannou (11-1) is coming off a first-round knockout KO win over Alistair Overeem at UFC 218 last month in Las Vegas. Francis Ngannou enjoyed a meteoric rise in the UFC and has recorded six finishes from as many fights since debuting in 2015.
There is very little that Francis Ngannou brings to the table that the Miocic hasn’t already seen. Current champ Miocic also doesn’t mind that most of the pre-fight hype has been focused on his foe and finding equivalents to his knockout power.
“I saw the one submission he had against Anthony Hamilton, the Kimura or whatever, I saw that, but I haven’t really seen any ground work,” Miocic said. “I haven’t really watched, I’ve seen that fight and Andrei Arlovski’s fight are what I’ve seen watching him fight.”
“He definitely has the hype behind him,” Miocic said. “He definitely has the punching power behind him. So, we’ll see on January 20 how things go.”
Miocic acknowledges that the UFC might even be drawing for Ngannou to win at UFC 220, even as current champ has scored a five-fight finishing streak of his own. He plans on disappointing everyone ready to battered Ngannou as the next “Baddest Man on the Planet.”
Do you guys think Stipe Miocic will manage to score a win over Francis Ngannou? Voice your opinion below.
