A pair of heavy hitters in MMA’s largest division will face off again on Saturday night when Stipe Miocic defends his heavyweight title against the sport’s leading knockout artist Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The last time Miocic and Ngannou met, Miocic retained his title with a unanimous decision win at UFC 220. After falling short in his next fight against Derrick Lewis, Ngannou sat down against Curtis Blaydes, Cain, through Velasquez, Junior dos Santos and Jairzinho Rozenstruik get another title shot.
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Since Miocic defeated Ngannou, he has only dealt with Daniel Cormier. Miocic dropped the title at UFC 226 to Cormier, but won it back with a round of 16 in the fourth round at UFC 241 in August 2019. The two had a rubber match last August and Miocic also prevailed, a unanimous decision that sent Cormier into retirement.
With an enraged Ngannou to claim his crown, will Miocic be able to keep his head and turn back the challenge or will there be a new heavyweight king after Saturday?
Sporting News is following live match updates and round-the-clock highlights from Stipe Miocic versus Francis Ngannou 2 and the entire map. Follow below for full updates of UFC 260.
Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou 2 Live Updates, Highlights from UFC 260
Round 2 (12:20 a.m.): Miocic can’t find a way in. Ngannou lands with his left hand. Miocic comes closer and Ngannou smashes him with his left hand a few more blows and Ngannou NUKES him with his left hand. Miocic is completely laid out. It’s over. New champion !!!!
Round 1 (12:14 a.m.): Ngannou’s kick at the start. Body Shot follows. A right hand lands on Ngannou and Miocic barely winced. What? Miocic does a takedown and Ngannou stuffs it. Takes Miocic’s back and flashes him with blows. Miocic survived the attack. Headbutt from Ngannou? WTF is going on here? Miocic looks confused and can’t find an entry point. Miocic lands a kick. Ngannou returns fire with a kick of his own. 10-9 Ngannou
11:57 pm: The main event is now open as Stipe Miocic will again defend his title against Francis Ngannou. Has the challenger figured out how to stop the degradation and save his energy, or will Miocic dominate him again?
11:45 pm: This could be the end of Tyron Woodley’s UFC career after being submitted in the first round by Vicente Luque. The former champion opened the fight by exercising caution and letting go of his hands. Woodley rocked Luque with his right hand, but Luque canceled his balance with his right hand behind his ear. After Luque poured on the punishment, he sank into a D’arce choke and got the template.
11:33 pm: Tyron Woodley is likely to win or go home as the former welterweight champion tries to end a loss to Vincente Luque in three bouts. Woodley has suffered three straight defeats to Kamaru Usman, Gilbert Burns and Colby Covington after holding the welterweight title from 2016 to 2019. Can he regain his shape or will Luque prove he’s worth taking in the title interview?
11:28 pm: Sean O’Malley put together a fantastic performance to prevail against Thomas Almeida in the third round. O’Malley made the mistake of believing he was knocked out with a headbutt in the first game. But Almeida recovered and stayed in the fight, offering a competitive second round. But O’Malley’s speed and creative technique were just too much for him. A short left hand dropped Almeida in the third and O’Malley almost deserved his way back but returned to the crime scene to finish the job with a vicious right hand.
11:00 pm: Next up, one of the hottest bantamweight prospects faces a fighter once recognized as the division’s fastest rising star when Sean O’Malley takes on Thomas Almeida in a bout that few would expect over the distance goes.
10:56 p.m .: Miranda Maverick is likely to make the flyweight standings with a dominant unanimous decision win over Gillian Robertson. Maverick was just too powerful, took advantage of excellent hits and overcame some adversity in the second round to take the best win of her career to date. The sky is the limit for Maverick.
10:26 pm: Gillian Robertson versus Miranda Maverick women’s flyweight is next. This fight was hit the main map after Alexander Volkanovski was diagnosed with COVID and removed from his featherweight title bout against Brian Ortega.
10:22 pm: So get started! Jamie Mullarkey erased Khama Worthy in just 46 seconds and a perfectly placed left hook. It was wonderful. It was brutal. It’s just what we needed after a sleepy preliminary round.
10:00 in the afternoon: Welcome to Sporting News’ live coverage of UFC 260. The main map is about to start. What did you miss in the preliminary rounds? Not much. Aside from Alonzo Menifield scoring the fourth Von Flue-Choke in UFC history in his win over Fabio Cherant, there wasn’t much to see. Hopefully things will change with the main map.
Miocic vs. Ngannou 2 start time
- Early preparations: 7:30 p.m. ET
- Title: 8 p.m. CET
- PPV main card: 10 p.m. AND
UFC 260 broadcast begins with the UFC Fight Pass Preliminary Rounds at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by the preliminary rounds at 8:00 p.m. ET. The pay-per-view event starts at 10:00 p.m. (CET). Miocic and Ngannou are expected to hit the octagon around 12:15 a.m. ET, though the exact time will depend on the length of previous bouts.
How to watch Stipe Miocic vs Francis Ngannou 2 on PPV
The entire UFC 260 card, including the main PPV card, is available in the US through the ESPN + subscription streaming service.
However, previous fights can also be viewed live on ESPN and the Watch ESPN app, as well as on the UFC Fight Pass for the first preliminary rounds.
In Canada, the primary pay-per-view card for Bell, Rogers, Shaw, SaskTel, Videotron, Telus, Eastlink, and UFC PPV is available on the UFC Fight Pass. Prelims are on TSN and RDS.
Click here to learn more about the different pricing and bundling options with the ESPN + platform
UFC 260 battle card
Main card (ESPN + PPV)
- Stipe Miocic (c) against Francis Ngannou for the Miocic UFC Heavyweight Championship
- Vicente Luque def. Tyron Woodley on Round 1 Submission (3:56)
- Sean O’Malley def. Thomas Almeida on 3rd round knockout (3:52)
- Miranda Maverick def. Gillian Robertson on unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27 & 29-28)
- Jamie Mullarkey def. Khama Worth KO over 1st round (: 46)
Provisional card (ESPN / ESPN +)
- Alonzo Menifield def. Fabio Cherant on submitting the 1st round (1:11)
- Abubakar Nurmagomedov def. Jared Gooden by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27 & 30-27)
- Michał Oleksiejczuk def. Modestas Bukauskas on separate decision (29-28, 29-28 & 28-29)
- Omar Morales def. Shane Young on unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27 & 30-27)
Early Preparations (ESPN + / UFC Fight Pass) .
- Marc-André Barriault def. Abu Azaitar on the 3rd round TKO (4:56)
