UFC 260 crowned a new heavyweight champion on Sunday night. In the “Biggest, Baddest Rematch”, titleholder Stipe Miocic lost the belt in the second round to Francis NGannou in the rematch. In the opening act, Abu Azaitar returned to the cage after a break of more than two years and opened the event.
Francis Ngannou is the UFC’s new heavyweight champion. The Cameroonian returned the favor with a brutal knockout at Stipe Miocic for the defeat in 2018. Ngannou put pressure on him early, scored with a right and not only fended off Miocic’s first takedown, but countered the attempt and hit him from the back, before the champion could break free. Miocic remained waiting and Ngannou divided the forces.
The defending champion started more actively in the second half, but quickly paid the price for it. Because after just a few seconds, a left straight sent the champion back to the fence in a wide arc. Miocic stayed on his feet, took hits and moved out of the danger zone. A hook on the right also rang Ngannou briefly.
Then the challenger followed suit. A left hook knocked Miocic over on his back, a hammer fist sealed the fate of the already unconscious champion after just one minute in the second round. New heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou.
Vicente Luque pats aggressive Woodley: UFC 260
Vicente Luque previously reinforced Tyron Woodley’s downtrend. It didn’t look like it at first. Because Woodley surprised and immediately went aggressively into the man, forced Luque to the fence, and then let his fists fly. Luque wiggled briefly, but then reciprocated with a right hand that almost pulled Woodley’s legs away.
The Welterweights fired now with the visor open, with Luque becoming more and more accurate and Woodley could only stay on his feet through the cage. Woodley fell to the mat after more. With the presence of mind, Luque saw his opportunity, put on a D’Arce choke from which Woodley could not escape. He gave up after four minutes on the first round.
Sean O’Malley celebrates next knockout
Sean O’Malley is back on winning ways. The American showed himself to be a faster and more precise fighter in the standing position against Thomas Almeida for three rounds and prepared the Brazilian with kicks before sending Almeida onto the boards early with a left head kick and a left, but then turned away instead of the To close the sack. He did that two laps later. A short left hook brought Almeida to stumble and onto the boards, a right from the standing position ended the fight.
Miranda Maverick prevailed on points against Canadian Gillian Robertson after good hits while standing, takedowns, and good submission defense. Jamie Mullarkey made short work of Khama Worthy in the first bout of the main program. With one left hand reaching his chin unchecked, Worthy lost control of his legs and fell face-first onto the mat. Mullarkey hardly had to follow up, after 46 seconds the fight was over.
Abu Azaitar is subject to the opening act
In the opening act, Abu Azaitar had to admit defeat after a strong start. The man from Cologne decided the beginning of the match against Marc-Andre Barriault while standing, before the Canadian switched things around in the third round, moved the battle to the mat and Azaitar had the option to stop there four seconds before the finish of the 15 minutes
In the further fights, Abubakar Nurmagomedov, cousin of Khabib, won a point victory over Jared Gooden. The Pole Michal Oleksiejczuk narrowly prevailed in the European duel against the Lithuanian Modestas Bukauskas and Omar Morales won against Shane Young. Alonzo Menifield concluded the preliminary program with a von-flue-choke after one minute against Fabio Cherant, who jumped in at short notice.
The results in the overview:
UFC 260
March 27th 2021
UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Heavyweight title fight
Francis Ngannou def.Stipe Miocic via knockout (punches) after 0:52 in round 2
Vicente Luque def. Tyron Woodley via D’Arce Choke after 3:56 in round 1
Sean O’Malley def. Thomas Almeida via Ko (punches) after 3:52 in round 3
Miranda Maverick def. Gillian Robertson unanimously on points ( 30:27, 30:27, 29:28)
Jamie Mullarkey def.Khama Worthy via knockout (punches) after 0:46 in round 1
Pre-program
Alonzo Menifield def. Fabio Cherant via Von-Flue-Choke after 1:11 in round 1
Abubakar Nurmagomedov def. Jared Gooden unanimously on points (30:27, 30:27, 30:27)
Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Modestas Bukauskas divided by Points (29:28, 28:29, 29:28)
Omar Morales def. Shane Young unanimously on points (30:27, 30:27, 30:27)
Marc-Andre Barriault def. Abu Azaitar via TKo (punches) after 4:56 in round 3
