Fresh off a knockout loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260, the UFC’s most successful heavyweight champion took some time to lick his wounds.
Classy in defeat as he is in victory, Stipe Miocic took to social media to share his thoughts on his defeat to Ngannou and assure his fans that he will be back.
“First and foremost, I’m ok. I know that fall wasn’t my most graceful fall, but I was unconscious, so it happens,” the Cleveland native joked to begin his post. “To my family friends and fans, especially [in] Croatia and Cleveland… I love you and I’m sorry. I hate letting you down. To my team, thank you. I know you feel every loss just as much as I do. We win as a family, we lose as a family.
“Losses aren’t fun, they always sting for a while, but that’s the beast of this business. You can’t win them all, and it’s important to understand that losing is just as much a part of sports (and life) as winning. Don’t ever forget God will always put you where you’re meant to be at that exact moment. You can’t dwell on what you should have done better, but you can learn and improve from it and come back more prepared next time.”
Miocic also gave an insight where he felt he went wrong in the contest.
The 38-year-old handily dealt with Ngannou in their first fight at UFC 220 in January, 2018 – dominating their contest en route to a comprehensive unanimous decision victory.
Ngannou has clearly made several improvements since then, something that Miocic acknowledges, though the latter believed he got carried away in the fight and that was ultimately his undoing.
“Unfortunately, I deviated from game plan. I felt great coming into the second round, I saw it was beginning to go as planned,” Miocic continued. “He was getting very winded, and I came in over zealous and unprotected. I wasn’t in a good posture to take the hit. He saw the opening, and did what any great fighter would have done.
“That was my error that I accept, it wont happen again. Lastly, I’d like to congratulate Francis Ngannou and his team on a well earned victory. Saturday night was your night, enjoy your victory!”
Miocic went on to say that he will regroup while spending time with his family as he is set to welcome a baby boy in the summer. After that, it appears the American of Croatian descent will embark on a comeback campaign to return to the top of the UFC’s heavyweight mountain.
The Strong Style Fight Team product holds UFC records for most consecutive title defences at heavyweight, as well as the most wins in heavyweight championship fights.
Since his first fight under the UFC banner in 2012, Miocic has stacked up wins against top names such as Daniel Cormier (twice), the aforementioned Ngannou, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Junior dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski, Gabriel Gonzaga and Mark Hunt.