Stipe Miocic is quickly approaching the most important fight of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, and it's certainly not going to be an easy one.
On January 20th from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts Miocic will defend his UFC heavyweight title for the third time against vicious knockout artist Francis Ngannou.
Ngannou is one of the most fierce knockout artists of all time and his most recent finish of Alistair Overeem has already been said to be one of the best of all time.
Miocic is a knockout artist in his own right, having finished his past several fights via first round KO against competition such as Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, and Junior dos Santos. If he's able to do the same against Ngannou, it's hard to bet against the Cleveland native going forward.
Their has been a ton of hype and promotion going into Miocic vs. Ngannou, but a lot of it has been centered around the French challenger. Miocic recently took to The MMA Hour and revealed he feels a bit disrespected by this (quotes via Bloody Elbow):
“Obviously, for sure,” Miocic told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour when asked if he feels the UFC want Ngannou to win on Jan. 20 (h/t Dave Doyle of MMA Fighting).
“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.
“He definitely has the hype behind him,” he said. “He definitely has the punching power behind him. So, we’ll see on January 20 how things go.”
What are your thoughts on Miocic saying he feels disrespected by the UFC? Do you think that the promotion is showing favoritism towards Ngannou? And do you believe that the UFC is hopping that "The Predator" walks out of Boston as the new heavyweight champion of the world? Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below!
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