UFC 220: Miocic vs Ngannou Info and Prediction Thread

[tokeweed]

Date: Saturday, January 20th
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass): 11:30 BCT.org / 3:30pm PST / 6:30pm EST
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1): 1:00 BCT.org / 5pm PST / 8pm EST
Main Card (PPV): 3:00 BCT.org / 7pm PST / 10pm EST
Live Streams: http://www.fìrstrow.eu/




Main Card (PPV)

Stipe Miocic (17-2) vs. Francis Ngannou (11-1) (Heavyweight Championship)
Daniel Cormier (19-1) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (15-1) (Light Heavyweight Championship)
Calvin Kattar (17-2) vs. Shane Burgos (10-0) (Featherweight)
Gian Villante (15-9) vs. Francimar Barroso (19-6) (Light Heavyweight)
Thomas Almeida (21-2) vs. Rob Font (14-3) (Bantamweight)

Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)

Kyle Bochniak (7-2) vs. Brandon Davis (8-2) (Featherweight)
Abdul Razak Alhassan (8-1) vs. Sabah Homasi (11-7) (Welterweight)
Dustin Ortiz (17-7) vs. Alexandre Pantoja (18-2) (Flyweight)
Dan Ige (8-1) vs. Julio Arce (13-2) (Featherweight)

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)

Enrique Barzola (13-3-1) vs. Matt Bessette (22-7) (Featherweight)
Maryna Moroz (8-2) vs. Jamie Moyle (4-2) (Women's Strawweight)
Islam Makhachev (14-1) vs. Gleison Tibau (33-12) (Lightweight)

Other

- Charles Rosa was expected to face promotional newcomer Dan Ige at the event. However on December 22, Rosa pulled out due to a neck injury. On January 3, Julio Arce stepped in on short notice and will face Ige.

- Arnold Allen was expected to face Enrique Barzola at the event. However, Allen was pulled from the fight on January 11 due to alleged visa issues which restricted his ability to travel. He was replaced by promotional newcomer Matt Bessette on January 11.

Thanks to the PuertoRican for letting use this content.

[tokeweed]

Wtf guys...  This is currently one of the better championship match ups in the HW division and there's still no discussion?  C'mon...  I hope this extended preview changes that. 

And Miocic is the underdog btw.  You can check the odds at Nitrogen.

UFC 220:  Miocic vs Ngannou - Extended Preview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnTDzrI3Zhk

[btc_angela]

WTF? How come he is the underdog?

It's this some sort of promoting or hyping this fight?  Although Francis Ngannou KO Overeem, and has a KO power, but we all know that Miocic is the champ and has face tougher opponents in the past and also on a roll of his own.

Let's see, I leaning towards Miocic and I'm sure that he will be ready and have a better plans on how to avoid the KO punches on Francis Ngannou, or maybe takes him to the ground.

[tokeweed]

It's the odds makers who decide what the lines are.  The UFC has nothing to do with it, they promote fights (aka hype and sell tickets).

[btc_angela]

It's the odds makers who decide what the lines are.  The UFC has nothing to do with it, they promote fights (aka hype and sell tickets).

Yes, I understand that its the odd makers, but I want I mean is basing from Miocic interviews, they are building Francis Ngannou and hyping his name more than the champion. We have seen Tyron Woodley complain about this several times.

That's why I believed that Miocic has something to proved when they face each other.

[tokeweed]

That's the UFC hype machine at work.  Maybe they feel Ngannou can sell more tickets than Miocic. 

And as far as who the underdog and the favorite is, it's the oddsmaker's job.  Those odds aren't there by accident or by hype.  It's formulated thru careful data analysis, statistics and all that.

[tokeweed]

Watch Miocic's face at the part when Dana White starts talking about the power of Ngannou's punch.  Lmao.  That's a bit of fear right there, but he's hiding it.

UFC 220:  Miocic vs Ngannou - Press Conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiVHgwKvePo

[Hydrogen]

Ngannou is credited with having an 83 inch reach and in his last fight he threw his punches from very low. The punch he KO'ed Alistair Overeem with came from below Overeem's line of sight, where he would have trouble seeing it coming. It was very similar to Derek Brunson's KO of Lyoto Machida. Ngannou is showing good evolution in his kickboxing game.

Stipe is very impressive in that he has a part time/full time job as a firefighter and doesn't train MMA full time. Probably the only UFC champion in history with a day job.

Ngannou has to be the favorite due to his ridiculous athleticism and high growth for how long he's been in the sport. I think Stipe could win if he finds Ngannou's chin. Ngannou has never really been tested in terms of him taking punches or strikes. There's a chance Stipe could land clean and not hurt him.

[bbc.reporter]

@Hydrogen. I reckon that Francis Ngannou will start an era in the heavyweight division and will hold the championship for a very long time, like Anderson Silva did in middleweight. I also reckon that there was never an era in heavyweight because UFC heavyweight champions have never defended their titles more than 4 times. Also, I like Stipe, but I cannot see him win this time.

[Netnox]

Anyone interested in the Daniel Cormier vs. Volkan Oezdemir fight? I am going to bet on Volkan and I will skip the Miocic vs Ngannou fight. I have checked a few gambling sites, and many of them have under-rated Volkan. I watched his fights against Misha Cirkunov (UFC Fight Night 109) and Jimi Manuwa (UFC 214). He was completely awesome.

[nydiacaskey01]

Why am I not surprised that Miocic will be the underdog for this fight even when he is the title holder. Maybe because Ngannou recently came out from a fight in a very convincing win over Overeem. Miocic last fight was 8 months ago while Ngannou is fresh from his recent win only last month. Both figther's finish their fights in round 1 from their last 3 fights however, Ngannou won via Submission on a fight last December 2016. Looks like this will be one of those quick fights that will be in the history books of UFC.

[tokeweed]

^ Miocic could test Ngannou and take him to the later rounds tho.  Miocic is still technically superior, while Ngannou's cardio is still questionable.  The latter could fade if the bout goes to the 4th and 5th round.  And I agree with Hydrogen.  His chin hasn't been really tested yet, let's see if he's as tough as nails.

Bottom line we could see the rise of someone great and take the HW division in the spot light once again, or we're looking at some overhyped fighter.

[SaShiRaJaVu]

@Hydrogen. I reckon that Francis Ngannou will start an era in the heavyweight division and will hold the championship for a very long time, like Anderson Silva did in middleweight. I also reckon that there was never an era in heavyweight because UFC heavyweight champions have never defended their titles more than 4 times. Also, I like Stipe, but I cannot see him win this time.

I like Miocic in this match up,everyone is getting behind the hype of Francis as he hits like a truck,i am sure Miocic too hits like a truck but not in the same level of Ngannou but he is the heavyweight champion because he knocked out some tough opponents and if he wins this one he is the longest reigning champion and the record is 2 and not 4 in the UFC. ,no one knows Ngannou's ground game and lets see whether it will be exposed this time

[bbc.reporter]

@SaShiRaJaVu. There will be no ground game in this fight because both fighters will be busy trying to knock out each other. Also, trying to change level and get a takedown would be taking a big risk for both because it would take a lot of energy considering their size and weight.

In any case, the fight will be over in under 1.5 rounds with Francis Ngannou's hands raised. This is the beginning of a new era in the heavyweight division.

[thejaytiesto]

It's the odds makers who decide what the lines are.  The UFC has nothing to do with it, they promote fights (aka hype and sell tickets).

Yes, I understand that its the odd makers, but I want I mean is basing from Miocic interviews, they are building Francis Ngannou and hyping his name more than the champion. We have seen Tyron Woodley complain about this several times.

That's why I believed that Miocic has something to proved when they face each other.

Im not that surprised. Peoplel ike to make money, and they may be seeing Ngannou as the new money making cow that will keep KO'ing people for a while until people figure out his game or until he loses his edge due making too much money/partying/ageing. Some people see Ngannou as the up and coming HW king. I think it's not that clear, Miocic is a proper viking, he may be able to take the Ngannou beast, I think I may not gamble on this one.

DC vs Volkan is a much easier bet, DC should win this one, then go fight againt with Bones probably next year or something.

[Hydrogen]

Anyone interested in the Daniel Cormier vs. Volkan Oezdemir fight? I am going to bet on Volkan and I will skip the Miocic vs Ngannou fight. I have checked a few gambling sites, and many of them have under-rated Volkan. I watched his fights against Misha Cirkunov (UFC Fight Night 109) and Jimi Manuwa (UFC 214). He was completely awesome.

....

Volkan Oezdemir is a sparring partner of Anthony "Rumble" Johnson. Rumble says he hit Volkan with full power punches to the chin and Volkan eats them without issue. Rumble also said Volkan trains very hard. What makes it a tough match up to predict is we've never seen Volkan be tested against a great wrestler like Daniel Cormier.

That said, Volkans hands are deadly weapons and a title fight is 5 rounds. He definitely has a "puncher's chance" or finding DC's chin and finishing the fight.

DC has had issues making weight @ 205. There's a question mark as to whether he solved that problem. We might have seen DC's weight cutting issues in his last fight with Jon Jones. If you watch the fight, it looked like DC was kind of sleep walking in the cage. He wasn't fully there. That weight cutting deficit could be enough to give Vokan what he needs to win the fight.

I might make a small parlay with Volkan and a few favorites. +400 or +500 is a decent play when it hits.

[thejaytiesto]

Anyone interested in the Daniel Cormier vs. Volkan Oezdemir fight? I am going to bet on Volkan and I will skip the Miocic vs Ngannou fight. I have checked a few gambling sites, and many of them have under-rated Volkan. I watched his fights against Misha Cirkunov (UFC Fight Night 109) and Jimi Manuwa (UFC 214). He was completely awesome.

....

Volkan Oezdemir is a sparring partner of Anthony "Rumble" Johnson. Rumble says he hit Volkan with full power punches to the chin and Volkan eats them without issue. Rumble also said Volkan trains very hard. What makes it a tough match up to predict is we've never seen Volkan be tested against a great wrestler like Daniel Cormier.

That said, Volkans hands are deadly weapons and a title fight is 5 rounds. He definitely has a "puncher's chance" or finding DC's chin and finishing the fight.

DC has had issues making weight @ 205. There's a question mark as to whether he solved that problem. We might have seen DC's weight cutting issues in his last fight with Jon Jones. If you watch the fight, it looked like DC was kind of sleep walking in the cage. He wasn't fully there. That weight cutting deficit could be enough to give Vokan what he needs to win the fight.

I might make a small parlay with Volkan and a few favorites. +400 or +500 is a decent play when it hits.

It would suck if DC loses this one. I really want to see Cormier vs Bones 3 eventually... it would be an epic trilogy, and just hope Bones doesn't fuck up again, can you imagine? it would be the greatest scam ever in the UFC, but I would still enjoy it. There's too much money involved for it not to happen, but even if Dana White would allow Bones to fight again a million times after testing positive, at some point age will ruin the match so it has to happen rather soon.

[koshgel]

Liking Ngannou and Oezdemir as a dog

[UsernameBitcoin]

I'm going to have to go with Ngannou, no doubt. The guy is a freak of nature and being built from the ground up. He was homeless and from my experience when I was homeless, it instills a certain wisdom within that most people don't have, because when you have nothing, you appreciate the little things. Miocic is a world-class striker, but Overeem was too and look what happened to him.

[streetlight]

This is going to be a very interesting fight. UFC keeps promoting Miocic as one of the best heavyweights ever. If he defends his belt I think he'll have the most title defenses in Heavyweight history at like 3, so that sums up how "dominant" he is. Not taking anything away from him. It's just that there hasn't ever been a massively dominant heavyweight in UFC history yet whereas there has been in every other division. Ngannou is the first contender in a long time to be that guy.