Newly crowned UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has praised Herb Dean for his accurate stoppage at UFC 260 when Ngannou Knocked out Stipe Miocic in a very brutal manner.
After losing the original meeting in January 2018, Ngannou (16-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) got redemption over Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) with a second-round knockout victory to become the new champion in the title rematch, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The heavyweights first met at UFC 220 in January 2018. In that fight, Miocic beat Ngannou with a unanimous decision with 50-44 scores on all three judges’ cards. Ngannou struggled to stop takedowns in that fight – but not Saturday.
Early in Round 1, Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) shot for a takedown. Ngannou didn’t end up on his back, but instead reversed Miocic and landed some big punches. Miocic ate everything Ngannou threw and remained calm, but struggled to muster up much offense outside of a few low calf kicks.
Miocic opened Round 2 with more striking, and Ngannou made him pay. He dropped Miocic in the opening seconds. Miocic recovered and got to his feet, but was met by a Ngannou uppercut.
As Ngannou charged forward, Miocic countered and connected. The blow put Ngannou on his back foot. Miocic recognized it and moved in, but Ngannou returned with a fight-ending punch that folded Miocic with his left foot awkwardly twisted underneath him. As Miocic springboarded with his leg unfolded out from under him, he was met by a diving hammer-fist from Ngannou.
Francis Ngannou was happy with the stoppage by Herb Dean
Some fans were critical of Dean as they believed that he way late in stopping the fight, but as far as Ngannou goes — the man who knows better than anyone — Dean did a good job.
Herb Dean gonna get somebody’s killed man pic.twitter.com/Rlm6u4taIl
— Dontre Graves 🏁 (@DontreGraves) March 28, 2021
Speaking to Mike Tyson on his “Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson” podcast, Ngannou said that Dean should have received a “Performance of the Night” bonus for his speedy stoppage.
“No, honestly I watched this fight and I saw Herb Dean’s action and I think it should be the ‘Performance of the night. Did you see how fast he ran? He was moving backward, and then after the action, you see how fast he moved in? The guy was on notice. He knew that if Francis touches him, don’t let (Francis) touch him again,” Ngannou said (h/t MiddleEasy).
“I didn’t feel like I hurt him. I was like ‘Why are you falling?’ I (threw the punch) just to counter and he went down and I’m like ‘Okay, what? I don’t know what happened but I have to follow to secure the win.’”
Following the win over Miocic, Ngannou is now the UFC heavyweight champion. His first title defense seems to come against former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones but both the parties need to get on board for that.
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