I don't think Ngannou's gameplan was dumb tbh, getting an early KO was his best chance to beat a much more experienced and technical fighter (who he would definitely lose to if it went 5 rounds), so he went for it. It's the same reason Conor blew his wad early against Floyd, he knew he wasn't winning a 36 minute boxing match so he had to go for it early.
And unlike Conman, it almost worked for Ngannou, he had Stipe in danger for that first minute and then wobbled him again in the 3rd even with Dada 5000 cardio. If he had won everyone would be praising his A level athleticism and saying how you don't need to be a well rounded fighter. Like.. if just one of those big uppercuts in the first minute was a centimeter closer to Stipe's chin the entire HW landscape would've been changed, so it can't have been the worst gameplan.
