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After dominating Ngannou (15-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) to a lopsided unanimous decision at UFC 220 in January 2018, Miocic (20-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) will put his title up for grabs again in the main event of the March 27 card, which is likely to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and air on pay-per-view following prelims expected on ESPN and ESPN+. Welcome back to Across the MMA Universe. Every Friday morning we scour the sport's landscape, preview upcoming cards, tell interesting stories and, if at all possible, have fun. Let's get it on. Edson Barboza breaking news and and highlights for UFC 262 fight vs. Shane Burgos, with official Sherdog mixed martial arts stats, photos, videos, and more for the Featherweight fighter from Brazil.
Stipe Miocic admits Francis Ngannou has improved going into their heavyweight title rematch at UFC 260. Is it enough to create a different result, though? The champ doesn’t think so.
After dominating Ngannou (15-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) to a lopsided unanimous decision at UFC 220 in January 2018, Miocic (20-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) will put his title up for grabs again in the main event of the March 27 card, which is likely to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and air on pay-per-view following prelims expected on ESPN and ESPN+.
Since losing the initial meeting, Ngannou has put together a 4-1 record. All four of those victories have come in consecutive fashion, with “The Predator” putting away all his opponents by first-round knockout in a combined 2:42 of cage time.
Miocic, for his part, has spent the last three-plus years engaging in a trilogy with Daniel Cormier. He won the deciding bout at UFC 252 in August, and now he turns his focus back to Ngannou, who he doesn’t think he come far enough to beat him.
“Francis is a super tough guy,” Miocic said on the “Oral Sessions” podcast with Renee Paquette. “He’s been knocking everyone out again and he’s on a tear, and unfortunately he’s going to have to fight me again. That’s the bad part. He’s definitely gotten better, but so have I.
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“I know I’m getting old, but I’ve gotten wiser and I’ve got a few new tricks up my sleeve. (They say) you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, which is a lie. I’ve learned a lot since the last couple years ago. It’s the same outcome. I’m going to walk out with the belt around my waist: and still.”
After storming up the heavyweight ranks to get his first title shot, Ngannou found someone who could hold up to his power when he challenged Miocic at UFC 220. The African contender connected with some big shots in the opening round, but Miocic survived and as the rounds wore on, he used clinch work, takedowns and ground control to dominate to unanimous 50-44 scorecards.
Miocic is even more aware of what to look out for in the rematch, he said, and sees a key advantage in his favor.
“Timing and speed,” Miocic said. “Really just speed. It’s all about speed. Speed kills, and that’s something we’ve really worked on the last couple camps fighting ‘DC.'”
If Miocic does get past Ngannou again at UFC 260, all signs point to the most significant fight of his career waiting in the wings. Former longtime UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones has committed to a move up to the heavyweight division, and it appears likely he’s going to get an immediate title shot.
Miocic said he’s gathered the same information that Jones is on deck, but knows it would be foolish to shift any focus off his rematch with Ngannou.
“I heard that too, (about Jones),” Miocic said. “I’ll fight anyone. For now, though, the task at hand, the only thing I’m thinking about, is Francis.”
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Fighter Details
- Given Name:Israel Mobolaji Temitayo Odunayo Oluwafemi Owolabi
- Pro MMA Record:20-1-0 (Win-Loss-Draw)
- Nickname:The Last Stylebender
- Current Streak:1 Loss
- Age:31 Date of Birth:1989.07.22
- Last Fight:March 06, 2021inUFC
- Weight Class:Middleweight Last Weigh-In:200.5 lbs
- Affiliation:City Kickboxing
- Height:6'4' (193cm) Reach:80.0' (203cm)
- Career Disclosed Earnings:$1,418,000 USD
- Born:Lagos, Nigeria
- Fighting out of:Auckland, New Zealand
- College:N/A
- Foundation Style:Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Boxing
- Head Coach:Eugene Bareman
- Other Coaches:N/A
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Israel Adesanya was born in Nigeria, but was relocated to New Zealand by his family while still an adolescent. He has a background in Muay Thai and Kickboxing, originally competing in Kickboxing and Boxing before becoming a professional Mixed Martial Artist. He amassed a 32-0 record as an amateur Kickboxer, then achieving 75-5 while a professional, with 48 KO's in his Kickboxing career. His career in boxing was far shorter, having a record of 5-1, with 1 knockout. He also was awarded a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by André Gavão.
Adesanya had one amateur MMA fight in 2009 against Neroni Savaiinaea, of which he lost by decision. However, he made the choice to return to MMA, this time as a professional in 2012. He went on an 11-fight winning streak from then on, with all wins coming by way of (T)KO, getting a win over UFC veteran Melvin Guillard in the process.
He was signed by the UFC in 2017, making his UFC debut at UFC 221 on February 21st, 2018 against Rob Wilkinson. He won the fight via TKO in the second round, collecting along the way a Performance of the Night bonus. His next fight was against Marvin Vettori at UFC on FOX 29 on April 14th, 2018. He won the close fight via split decision. He fought for the third time in the year at The Ultimate Fighter 27 Season Finale on July 6th, 2018 against Brad Tavares. He won the one-sided bout via unanimous decision, winning his second Performance of the Night Bonus along the way. He capped off his year with a first round TKO over Derek Brunson at UFC 230 on November 3rd, 2018, winning his third Performance of the Night bonus in the process. Israel Adesanya then went on to face former UFC Middleweight Champion and one of the greatest of all time, Anderson Silva in the main event of UFC 234 on February 9th, 2019. The main event was supposed to be Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum for the Middleweight belt, with the co-main event set as a number one contender's fight. However, the main event was cancelled hours prior to the event due to the Champion, Robert Whittaker suffering an abdominal hernia. Adesanya's fight with Silva was rebooked to main event status. Adesanya beat the former titleholder by Unanimous Decision, winning his first ever Fight of the Night bonus as well.
Adesanya faught against Kelvin Gastelum for the Interim UFC Middleweight Championship belt in the co-main event of UFC 236 on April 13th, 2019. In what some called the fight of the year adesanya defeated kelvin gastelum to become the ufc middle weight interim champion setting up a show down to unify his interim belt with the reigning champion Robert Whittaker's undisputed middle weight championship.
The biggest event in UFC history went down in Melbourne Australia october 6th in the Marvel Arena. At UFC 243 Israel 'the last stylebender' Adesanya fought and won against Robert 'the reaper' Whitaker via K.O. in the second round.
Even before the fight Adesanya displayed his calm but show orientated style dancing with 3 childhood friends before getting into the octagon. In the fight Robert Whitaker tried to reach for Adesanya with longing shots but missed most of them. Israel was able to drop Robert in the last second of the first round and the bell saved Robert into the second round. Same same in the second round until the finishing blows of Adesanya put an end to that fight. Adesanya silencing his critics with this dominant performance addressing the 'non-existing power issue' the best way possible by knocking out the champ. It's fair to say the UFC has a new Superstar in Adesanya.
Israel Adesanya wants to defend his UFC middle weight title against title contender Paulo Costo who himself is coming off a win against Yoel Romero. There are even rumors of a Jon Jones fight down the line.
Due to injury issues with Paulo Costa, Adesanya instead faced Yoel Romero for his first title defense. He won by unanimous decision in what was said to be a boring fight.
He will now face Paulo Costa in a heated championship bout at Fight Island on September 26th, 2020.
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