Stipe Miocic Gives his Prediction for Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou

Former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic gave his thoughts on Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury.

Stipe Miocic believes that "on paper," Francis Ngannou doesn't beat Tyson Fury, but it'd be a good fight nonetheless.

Miocic appeared on the July 14 episode of the "Believe You Me" podcast, where he voiced his prediction for the heavyweight showdown:

"It'd be a good fight, I mean, on paper no [Ngannou doesn't win]. [Ngannou is in Tyson Fury's world], but it's a fight, anything can happen; he hits hard, he does well."

Miocic shared the octagon with Ngannou on two separate occasions. The American fighter defied oddsmakers by destroying a surging Ngannou over five rounds at UFC 220 in 2018. The defeat would mark the beginning of the first losing streak for Ngannou as he would drop another performance to Derrick Lewis in the very next fight; it is widely regarded as one of the worst fights in UFC history.

“I think that he had a pretty quick rise here and obviously the fight over Alistair Overeem catapulted him. Everybody was talking about him. I thought he was going to be the next guy. I think his ego ran away with him. Big time. I can tell you that his ego absolutely did run away." Dana White remarked at the UFC 226 presser.

Despite the setback, Ngannou clawed his way back into contention with four straight first round knockouts, securing a rematch with Miocic at UFC 260 in 2021. A reserved Ngannou put on a masterclass against Miocic, knocking him out cold in the second round. After one more defense against Ciryl Gane, Ngannou vacated the heavyweight strap to pursue more equitable deals with other promotions, which landed him this landmark fight with Tyson Fury.

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