The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
DEFINING BOUT OF MIOCIC’S CAREER
Champion will defend against Ngannou, who is ‘more powerful than a sledgehammer’
When Stipe Miocic returned home to Northeast Ohio from Brazil 20 months ago, he brought with him the UFC heavyweight belt.
It meant he was the champion.
It also meant he was one of the faces of the UFC.
In becoming the champ, Miocic made one thing clear: It would not change him.
He said that two days after winning the championship in 2016 on May 14 with a firstround knockout of former champion Fabricio Werdum in May of 2016.
“I’m going to be the same man,” said Miocic May 14, 2016. “Wake up in the morning, let the dogs out, make a cup of coffee for my wife, go to work at the fire station and keep training. This won’t change me.”
Miocic has stayed true to his word, probably to the dismay of UFC president Dana White, who loves his larger-than-life characters such as Conor McGregor that produce big pay-per-view buys. Miocic is still a fire fighter and paramedic for the village of Oakwood.
Perhaps that’s why White was talking up Miocic’s next opponent Francis Ngannou at a Dec. 29 news conference in Las Vegas as the UFC’s next best thing. Miocic and Ngannou fight in the main event of UFC 220 Jan. 20 in Boston.
Ngannou shook up the UFC with his ferocious first-round knockout of Alistair Overeem in December.
The big punch was a left uppercut that floored Overeem and left him unconscious for a few minutes.
At the Dec. 29 news conference in Las Vegas, White compared Ngannou’s punching power to the “equivalent of 96 horsepower.”
Other Ngannou superlatives by White:
• “More powerful than a 12-pound sledgehammer being swung from full force overhead.”
• And a Ngannou punch is like getting “hit by a Ford Escort going as fast as it can.”
Meanwhile, Miocic listened to White boast about his newest heavyweight contender, and Ngannou boast about himself.
Then, when asked by a reporter in attendance if the punch Ngannou knocked out Overeem with intimidated him in any way, Miocic replied: “This is what I signed up for. Why would I be intimidated by another man?”
Ngannou chirped back, “Don’t lie, Stipe. Don’t lie.”
This isn’t anything knew from Ngannou, who said after his win against Overeem that Miocic was the “interim” champion. He followed that with this Dec. 29 in Las Vegas:
“(Miocic) will try to survive, but whatever he’s going to try, I will touch him and connect, and you know what happens when I connect.”
Later in the news conference, Ngannou said, “He knows he’s going to have a fight that he’s never had in his career.”
Miocic isn’t loud, isn’t boisterous. He doesn’t talk big, but he is confident. He’s never publicly said it, but White probably thinks Miocic is a bit boring. Fair or not, boring doesn’t sell a lot of pay-per-views, which is why White seems thrilled to have a largerthan-life-type character in Ngannou up against his heavyweight champion.
Ngannou, 31, was born into poverty in Cameroon. Looking for a way out and a better life, the fan of Mike Tyson moved to France and began training as a boxer, and later became a MMA fighter. He’s grown into a hulking 6-foot-4, 250-pounder known for his power.
Fans love knockouts, but they also love a big build-up to a big title bout. Ngannou is bringing that for the main event in Boston. Miocic won’t bring the trash talk because that’s not him — whether White and the UFC like it or not.
Miocic is about the grind, and the work put in before a big fight. That work has led to this for the 35-year-old champion — perhaps the defining moment of his career.
He enters the bout as the underdog, but a win puts Miocic alone among UFC heavyweights with three title defenses.
About the only cocky thing he will say about why no heavyweight has pulled off that trifecta is this: “Because it wasn’t me,” Miocic has said a number of time to The News-Herald.
He gets to prove that Jan. 20 in Boston, plus quiet the doubters. It’s a moment rarely seen for a champion. On the outside, Miocic might look like Ivan Drago’s son, but he’s anything like the robotlike Russian boxer from the film “Rocky IV.” Inside, there is no doubt Miocic is seething. He’s doing his best to hide it.
“Ford Escort, that’s pretty powerful,” Miocic said, responding to White’s description of a Ngannou punch. “I’m probably like a little bug or something. But good for him. Let him get all the hype he wants. I’m going to do what I do and keep winning.”