Stipe Miocic Beats Francis Ngannou to Create UFC History

Stipe Miocic defends his title (Photo: Facebook)

Croatian-American fighter Stipe Miocic has created UFC history after beating Francis Ngannou at the TD Garden in Boston on Saturday night.

The victory at UFC220 means the current UFC Heavyweight champion has successfully defended his title three times – the first time it has been done in his division.

Ngannou, who was unbeaten in the UFC and won his previous 10 fights, went into the fight with a fierce reputation about his punching power but he met his match in the champion Miocic, who was on a five-fight win streak, four of them ending with a knockout in under a round.

Ngannou came out strong in the first round, landing a couple of solid punches, one which drew blood from Miocic’s nose but the Croatian-American came back strong in the round landing a series of punches and takedowns himself.

OOOOOOHHHH!

The champ is in great form tonight! #UFC220 pic.twitter.com/CPkya7PWtI

— UFC (@ufc) January 21, 2018

Miocic controlled the second round, using his wrestling skills to pin down Ngannou who was saved by the bell at the end of the round.

😮😮😮😮😮 #UFC220 pic.twitter.com/bm3C4efZCz

— UFC (@ufc) January 21, 2018

Miocic controlled the third and fourth rounds also landing a number of ground strikes when he had the tiring Ngannou pinned down for long periods.

Miocic had Ngannou pinned down for most of the fight

A visibly fatigued Ngannou could not muster anything in the final round and a dominant Miocic made the judges decision an easy one as he claimed history.

Miocic has now defended his title a record three times. In the other two title fights, he beat Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem.