UFC

Chael Sonnen highlights ‘Conor McGregor’ problem that Francis Ngannou faces ahead of Stipe Miocic clash

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Francis Ngannou is known for his quick finishes inside the Octagon and he could face a Conor McGregor problem

Francis Ngannou has possibly the biggest fight of his career at UFC 260 as he takes on Stipe Miocic.

The pair had met a few years back and it was the current UFC Heavyweight Championship that got the better of Ngannou.

UFC heavyweight fighter Francis Ngannou poses during a media session in Beijing on November 22, 2018, ahead of the weekend’s UFC Fight Night. – UFC will hold its first event in Beijing on November 24, after holding its maiden fight card in mainland China in Shanghai last year. (Photo by Greg Baker / AFP) (Photo credit should read GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)

However, the French-Cameroon star has more experience under his belt. The 34-year-old is on a four-fight win streak and has won all those via KO or TKO.

While many believe that Ngannou is the most dangerous fighter in the UFC thanks to his KO power, Chael Sonnen shared his concern for the 34-year-old.

Sonnen was speaking on his show and claimed that inactivity, like Conor McGregor, could be a problem for Ngannou.

Dustin Poirier posted this photo from UFC 257 (Instagram)

McGregor blamed a lack of MMA activity for his loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. While McGregor had fought once in 2020 before facing Poirier. However, the Irishman was also busy with Floyd Mayweather, announced his retirement (again) and fought Khabib Nurmagomedov in the past three years or so.

Sonnen added that preparing for a fight, even a short one, featured a lot of training and camps. However, nothing beats time in the Octagon:

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“But you don’t get the ring time.

“I worry about that for other guys. I am starting to think that could be a real thing for Francis Ngannou.

“And I think that is going over everybody’s head that Francis is in a very similar spot to Conor McGregor in terms of minutes in the Octagon.

“We don’t have minutes with Francis, we have seconds.”

Stipe Miocic is in it for the long haul

Sonnen, however, believed that Ngannou was in a better spot because he was training well, making weight and in the right zone but lack of Octagon time is a bit of a factor in big fights.

Ngannou has only been in the Octagon for just over three minutes in his last four fights. Miocic, the champion, has been at war with Daniel Cormier and had 10 rounds with DC over their three bouts.

Stipe Miocic speaks to Joe Rogan after defeating Francis Ngannou in their Heavyweight Championship fight during UFC 220 at TD Garden on January 20, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)

Miocic also took Ngannou all the way to five rounds when they met in 2018 and it will be interesting to see how the UFC 260 clash goes between them.

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Saiyed Adeem Karim

Ditching a corporate job to follow a dream isn't easy, but when football comes calling, who can say no? Been following the beautiful game since 1998. Liverpool addict, F1 fanatic!