UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic continues to defy the odds and make those who bet against him regret their decisions.
Despite being an underdog once again, Miocic, a native of Cleveland, is still the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion of the world after a dominant unanimous decision win over top-ranked contender Francis Ngannou in the main event of UFC 220 at TD Garden in Boston Saturday night.
“It feels good,” Miocic told WKYC.com in an exclusive interview following his UFC record third consecutive defense of the heavyweight championship. “I had a few bumps, but it is what it is. The guy’s tough. He’s big, strong you know.”
In his five previous fights, Miocic won by knockout or technical knockout, and four of those bouts ended in the first round. It was the first time Miocic went five rounds in a title fight, and only the third time in his career that he had gone past the fourth.
Miocic last went the distance against Junior dos Santos on December 13, 2014. Ngannou had never been out of the second round in his MMA career.
Miocic won the bout, 50-44, on all three of the judges' scorecards.
According to FightMetric, Miocic was successful with six of his 14 takedown attempts (42 percent), and used those to have one-sided advantages in control and total strikes against the 263-pound Ngannou, who had not been beaten in his first six UFC bouts.
Miocic held control of Ngannou for 15 of the 25 minutes in The Octagon, and while in the clinch and guard, he landed many of his 200 strikes. Known as a judicious fighter, Miocic connected on 200 of his 244 strikes (82 percent) and 70 of his 95 significant hits (74 percent).
Conversely, Ngannou landed just 33 strikes in the entire bout and failed to lock in his only submission attempt.
“In the beginning, when he hit me, it wasn’t like I was hurt or anything like that,” Miocic said. “He hits hard, just like any heavyweight did, but I felt good, hit him with some good shots, and then, once I got that takedown, I knew it was going to take time.”
Including the win over Ngannou, Miocic has now won six straight fights, improved to 18-2 in his professional career, and is 12-2 in 14 bouts under the UFC banner.
“Listen, that’s why I have the best coaches in the world, the best teammates in the world,” Miocic said. “That’s how we do it. We come in, we’re prepared, and we come out with a win every time.”
