Francis Ngannou frustrated with UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic
Top UFC heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou is tired of waiting for his title shot. The last time "The Predator" fought was back in March, when he went through Jairzinho Rozenstruik in just 20 seconds.
With that victory, he took his streak to four wins after beating Curtis Blaydes, Cain Valesquez, and Junior dos Santos before Rozenstruik. However, he is yet to get a shot at the title that's currently held by Stipe Miocic.
Speaking with MMA Fighting, Francis Ngannou expressed his frustration with UFC and the champion for keeping him waiting all these months for a title fight.
Francis Ngannou is not sure when he will get a shot at the title
There was always going to be a delay in Francis Ngannou's title fight because of the Stipe Miocic-Daniel Cormier trilogy, and he was well aware of that.
However, after Stipe Miocic won the trilogy in August 2019 via unanimous decision, word got out that the champ was not going to compete again in 2020. Dana White has recently said that Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou 2 will happen in March next year.
Francis Ngannou is not too confident about anything at the moment though.
"It’s been a lifetime [since I last fought],” Ngannou said when speaking to MMA Fighting. “It’s still kind of like frustrating even though I’m trying to take it out of my mind knowing that I can’t do nothing to change it. Even before fighting in May, I’ve been through this same story, this same situation and it got me ready to face it again. I was waiting for Stipe and D.C., who was in August and obviously I was expecting something in December. That’s why after their fight, I just came back from Cameroon expecting maybe sometime in December because it’s four months away, or maybe January at the latest, I might have a fight. Obviously, now I don’t know. What I know, they just said March but it’s not official. Who knows. Who knows how that will play out."
After the fight with Daniel Cormier, an eye injury kept Miocic sidelined for several months, after which the coronavirus pandemic intervened. Being a part-time first responder, Miocic had other responsibilities to take care of during these crucial times.
Francis Ngannou says that he understood to all of that, and the only problem with the trilogy being delayed was that it held up the heavyweight division. Ngannou is confident that he was not the only one thinking like that.
"My only thing with that trilogy is that [Stipe] has been holding the heavyweight division up for a long time. There hasn’t been a title fight in this division for two years except for those between Stipe and D.C. and other than that there hasn’t been a fight with contenders, which is what contenders fight for. To fight for the title but there is no title going on in this division. I don’t how long that is going to last. I’m sure it’s not just me saying that. Other contenders who also feel the same way because if there’s not a title fight, contenders they’re not moving on. They’re just fighting without purpose. Without a real goal.
“Because when you’re a prospect, you fight to become a contender. When you’re a contender, you fight to be champion. Now, heavyweight contenders right now don’t really know what they’re fighting for. For those who are fighting, obviously. In my case, I’m not fighting. I can’t even dare say I’m fighting.”
Who do you think would come out on top between Francis Ngannou and Stipe Miocic? Sound off in the comments.