UFC 260 analysis: Did Francis Ngannou correct the mistakes he made in the first fight against Miocic?

Miocic is considered one of MMA’s all-time heavyweight greats. He defeated such stars of the sport as Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos and Daniel Cormier. He also defeated his Saturday night opponent at UFC 260, Ngannou.

In their first confrontation, Miocic found a way to nullify Ngannou by taking him to the ground. Sure, he landed a number of big attacks from Ngannou, but Miocic’s overall skills stopped Ngannou in his tracks, wore him down and led to an obvious unanimous decision victory.

But this Ngannou is not the same opponent he was in 2018. After losing to Miocic, Ngannou found holes not only in his game, but also in his way of life. He has hired a team around him, changed his training methods and, as a result, thrived. He is riding a streak of four straight first-round knockouts, all of them in the first 71 seconds. Ngannou has earned this new title shot and is ready to make the most of it.

While Miocic has spent his time in the cage against one man since the Ngannou fight – Cormier. The heavyweight trilogy ended last August, and while it was entertaining for most of the world, it forced Ngannou to bide his time.

Miocic has shown fantastic development on his own, making key adjustments in the fight against one of the sport’s best in Cormier.

On Saturday night, will fighting again be a big part of Miocic’s plan? Will Ngannou’s training with welterweight leader Usman set the trend here, and more importantly, will he be able to maintain his cardio if he needs to?