The Ohio native wasn’t able to speak to the assembled media after the fight because he was taken to a local hospital for precautionary reasons. On Monday, Miocic took to Instagram to offer an update on his condition after he took a hard punch from Ngannou that sent him crashing down to the canvas followed by a brutal hammerfist that put an exclamation point on the knockout.
“First and foremost, I’m OK,” Miocic wrote. “I know that fall wasn’t my most graceful fall, but I was unconscious, so it happens. To my family friends and fans, especially Croatia & 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.”
After losing the first round to Ngannou on the scorecards, Miocic went back to his corner where his coaches stressed picking up his offense once the fight got started again.
At that point, Miocic became more aggressive with his striking combinations, and that allowed Ngannou to set up the knockout punch.
Miocic got tagged by a hard shot, but he then decided to fire back and actually clipped Ngannou with a solid punch of his own. Unfortunately for Miocic, Ngannou ate the shot and then fired back with the counter that ultimately led to the end of the fight and his reign as UFC heavyweight champion.
“Unfortunately, I deviated from game plan,” Miocic said. “I felt great coming into the second round, I saw it was beginning to go as planned. 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 won’t 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.”
As far as what comes next for Miocic, he appears to be ready for a long break as he prepares for the birth of his son, which is expected in August.
“For now, I’m going to enjoy the down time, spend some time with my family, and welcome our son into the world this summer,” Miocic wrote. “Stay tuned, God bless.”
Miocic came into the fight against Ngannou as the most storied heavyweight champion in UFC history with the most consecutive successful heavyweight title defenses (three) and wins in six championship fights in total.
As for Ngannou, he’s already expressed interest in staying busy as champion with all signs pointing towards a potential showdown with Jon Jones next or a possible rematch against Derrick Lewis later this year.
{feed:enclosure_href }
More...
