After close to 10 months of waiting, Francis Ngannou will finally get an opportunity at redemption against UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Miocic-Ngannou II is done for March 27 at UFC 260 as the main event.
Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou a done deal for March 27, sources say. Co-main is Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega for the featherweight title.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 24, 2021
After closing out his trilogy with Daniel Cormier back in August, Miocic turned his attention to a slew of potential opponents ranging from Ngannou to former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. But in the end, it was Ngannou’s stellar run that earned the contender another shot at UFC gold.
After dropping his first title shot to Miocic in what was a career-altering loss in 2018, it was fair to question the future for Ngannou. Miocic outworked Ngannou, using precise strikes and a heavy ground game to frustrate the rising star. He stumbled through a decision loss to Derrick Lewis and had clearly lost his confidence. Since then, Ngannou has been on a tear, needing less than two minutes to knock out each of his last four opponents.
Ngannou has now beaten top contenders Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, and the formerly-unbeaten Jairzinho Rozenstruik in his last three fights. In his last fight, a showdown with Rozenstruik, Ngannou needed just 18 seconds to earn the victory and place his next target on Miocic.
In the co-main event, Alexander Volkanovski will move on from his two wins against Max Holloway in his second title defense, this time against Brian Ortega.
