Lessons from UFC 220

[BillyBoxing]

I'd say experience beat youth last night more than grit beat talent. I think the older guys showed their superior talent last night so I didn't see the talent, only youth, siding with the challengers.
.

Stipe had the right game plan, he moved a lot, making the 263 lbs Ngannou move and miss his shots AND SO gass out.

VERY SMART.

Then he landed some NICE blows in the process, took him down, still making Francis struggle and gass out, Stipe WAS working and winning the rounds.

Stipe was in full control, dude has a real fighting IQ and is even better than what I thought.

I thought Stipe boxing skills weren't that good but he bested Francis in that department where I thought he would be inferior.

[BKM-]

I get all that but it's hard to imagine that neither one trained for a 25 minute fight. They were both gassed after one round. Ngannou was done after about 20 seconds. As a sporting event White should be ashamed of the performance from the champion and the #1 contender in the premier division.

This isn't the first time I've seen both fighters gas in the main event in a UFC match but this one was just awful to watch. It's not like they were fighting at altitude.

Keep your criticsm towards Ngannou though because Stipe did plenty. He was like 6-0 for takedowns, landed over 200 strikes in total which isn't bad for HW, and I don't think the ref stood him up once for inactivity. In the 4th round Stipe took Ngannou down and landed 84 strikes while Ngannou landed 0.

Stipe has very proven stamina. It's just difficult to finish a 263lb steroid mass with a granite chin.

but yea in retrospect some seasoning with more experienced guys who don't just go to sleep when he hits them is gonna be helpful to him earning his way to another title shot from here & wouldn't of hurt his chances vs Stipe last night. There wasn't a more deserving guy around to fight Stipe doe.

He already had that experience against Blaydes where he got wrestle****ed for two round and was very lucky to get a doctor's stoppage in his favor.

Clearly it wasn't a wake-up call to him since he still thought Stipe would be an easy win, hell his defensive grappling actually seems to have gotten worse since then. Unbelievable.

He's either that arrogant or simply not good enough. It's not an easy sport. I doubt he gets better from this exposing beating.

[HarvardBlue]

Keep your criticsm towards Ngannou though because Stipe did plenty. He was like 6-0 for takedowns, landed over 200 strikes in total which isn't bad for HW, and I don't think the ref stood him up once for inactivity. In the 4th round Stipe took Ngannou down and landed 84 strikes while Ngannou landed 0.

Stipe has very proven stamina. It's just difficult to finish a 263lb steroid mass with a granite chin.

He did enough to win yes, but he gets blamed also. His stamina has looked better in the past so I'll give you that but as tired as NGannou he could've got him out of there if he was in better shape himself. I know at one point he was landed these love taps hoping the ref would stop it but they nothing on them. Yes, Ngannou looked woefully more pathetic but Stipe doesn't get a pass from me. This fight was the equivalent of Fury/Klitschko and that fight looked like Rocky 1 thru 4 compared to that snoozer last night.

[BKM-]

He did enough to win yes, but he gets blamed also. His stamina has looked better in the past so I'll give you that but as tired as NGannou he could've got him out of there if he was in better shape himself. I know at one point he was landed these love taps hoping the ref would stop it but they nothing on them. Yes, Ngannou looked woefully more pathetic but Stipe doesn't get a pass from me. This fight was the equivalent of Fury/Klitschko and that fight looked like Rocky 1 thru 4 compared to that snoozer last night.

I don't disagree that Stipe has looked in better shape in the past, though like I said it's different trying to control an artificial 263lb dude with a granite chin.

I think this fight is the first sign of Stipe's natural aging and decline as a fighter. He's 35 now and has about 34 rounds in the UFC HW division against that level of competition, I think it's clear it has taken some out of him.

I still don't see anyone beating him though, Cain is too much of a question mark. Blaydes is probably the toughest future matchup.

[BoxingTech718]

I think Mgannou can still be champ if he takes this time to switch camps and train takedown defense, also drop 10 lbs and work on cardio.
The best HWs have always been smaller. The bigger guys just don’t have cardio to last. Francis at 245 instead of 270 would still have KO power and be a lot better late in fights.

[Straight Up]

Francis Nggannou is today's Chiek Congo.

[jaded]

Nggannou is like a bigger and stronger version of Kimbo Slice. No ground game...can't kick or check kicks...no stamina. Just a big strong imposing guy who works the bum rush. Stipe was prepared for it moving and slipping knowing he would gas quickly. Once Nggannou knew he had used up to much energy he stopped pressing and had no game at all.

Stipe lying on him wasn't because he was tired but because wanted to make sure that he kept draining as much of Nggannou's energy as he could to eliminate any danger from him. He DOES have one punch KO power and Stripe played it safe and smart.

I thought Stripe had a perfect plan and executed it very well.

[DuckAdonis]

Work on your cardio

Being all muscles doesnt help you in a fight

[Eff Pandas]

I think Mgannou can still be champ if he takes this time to switch camps and train takedown defense, also drop 10 lbs and work on cardio.
The best HWs have always been smaller. The bigger guys just don’t have cardio to last. Francis at 245 instead of 270 would still have KO power and be a lot better late in fights.

Agree with all this minus the weight/cardio stuff. He needs to work on some sh^t. He definitely needs to improve his takedown defense + ground game. I think his weight is fine & maybe he can drop 5-10lbs, but I wouldn't suggest he lose 20+lbs. Its 265. He should stick around that weight cuz he's a big f#cker. And his body type isn't homies with cardio so idk that he'll improve it THAT much moving forward. Thats not to say he shouldn't work on it, but I'd encourage him to measure his energy better in the ring in particular when we are in a scheduled 5 rounder for the first time vs the best guy you've fought.

Francis Nggannou is today's Chiek Congo.

Nggannou is like a bigger and stronger version of Kimbo Slice.

LOL man y'all some harsh mfers. Those two mfers didn't even know how to fight barely. Kongo seemed like he didn't even understand fighting most of the time. And Kimbo didn't unless it was navigating lawn chairs & BBQ's during the fight.

Ngannou is a world class fighter who's got some fixable holes in his game & this is the first time those holes got so exposed so seeing what he does with this newfound knowledge is going to be key. Kongo & Kimbo got their holes exposed over & over & over in wins & losses & never made much of an attempt to fix them.

It is possible Ngannou takes an ignorant eye towards those holes in the future, but we are still far from that being the reality with like with those other cats far beneath the level Ngannou as reached already.

[BKM-]

Agree with all this minus the weight/cardio stuff. He needs to work on some sh^t. He definitely needs to improve his takedown defense + ground game. I think his weight is fine & maybe he can drop 5-10lbs, but I wouldn't suggest he lose 20+lbs. Its 265. He should stick around that weight cuz he's a big f#cker. And his body type isn't homies with cardio so idk that he'll improve it THAT much moving forward. Thats not to say he shouldn't work on it, but I'd encourage him to measure his energy better in the ring in particular when we are in a scheduled 5 rounder for the first time vs the best guy you've fought.





LOL man y'all some harsh mfers. Those two mfers didn't even know how to fight barely. Kongo seemed like he didn't even understand fighting most of the time. And Kimbo didn't unless it was navigating lawn chairs & BBQ's during the fight.

Ngannou is a world class fighter who's got some fixable holes in his game & this is the first time those holes got so exposed so seeing what he does with this newfound knowledge is going to be key. Kongo & Kimbo got their holes exposed over & over & over in wins & losses & never made much of an attempt to fix them.

It is possible Ngannou takes an ignorant eye towards those holes in the future, but we are still far from that being the reality with like with those other cats far beneath the level Ngannou as reached already.

Kongo is far more skilled than Ngannou. He had a kickboxing background and was very strong in the clinch which is where he did a lot of his work(especially the knees to the nuts) and developed a good double leg TD. And he was only like 225-230lbs in his prime too.

Btw Ngannou isn't that big naturally. His frame isn't, he's got narrow shoulders, small ribcage and would have a leaner and lighter physique if he didn't OD on the PED's.



The size he has now is all muscles which is the main reason for his non existent cardio. The other posters got it right that dropping weight would be beneficial for him. he could actually become better than Bob Sapp that way. LOL.