Stipe Miocic will smash Francis Ngannou, despite UFC wanting ‘The Predator’ as heavyweight champion

Francis Ngannou has made a mockery of the heavyweight division during his short stint with the promotion, bulldozing everything standing in his way, which was good enough to earn his first-ever title shot against Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 on Jan. 20, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Stipe has been there, done that.

In fact, the current 265-pound champion says it’s funny to see everyone make a big fuss about the opponents Francis has demolished, when he did the very same thing to the exact same foes years prior.

“Nothing just another normal dude, regular guy that I’m fighting like I usually am,” said Stipe on during a recent edition of The MMA Hour regarding his first staredown with “The Predator.”

Miocic does see a bright side to Ngannou getting all the hype, as all the pressure is on the power-hitting Heavyweight, while he can just go out and do what he does best, which is to smash people.

“All the pressure is on him, with all his finishers, the best guys he has faced, I knocked them all out two years ago,” he said. “I’m just going to go out there and do my job and smash him. I’m the champ, I’ve defended it twice and I’m going to break the record here.”

And he has the hands to do it, as Stipe has won his last four fights via first round knockout. In an interesting twist, Miocic says all the hype behind Ngannou simply proves the promotion wants the record-setting 265-pounder to be the face of the division.

“He’s got more hype on him,” Miocic said. “The guy hits super hard. We’re making a big thing about it. I’ve fought some good guys, you know? That’s how we are. I’m not much of a trash talker I just like to fight, that’s what I do.” concluded Miocic.

Do you see UFC favoring Ngannou when it comes to the marketing of this heavyweight title bout?