Stipe looked terrible against Francis

[HeDidn'tWantTheFight]

Stipe looked old af in the third DC fight. He won by virtue of DC looking the same way.

It's not surprising that Francis destroyed him. Even though the two fought twice, they still kind of missed each other. Francis was still raw during the first fight and Stipe was either still in or close to his prime. In this one, we have prime Francis vs. washed Stipe. It'd be interesting to see the Francis we saw last year against the Stipe of four or five years ago.

 

[chinarice]

Exactly. Stipe’s decline showed itself throughout the Cormier trilogy (as did Cormier’s), and that just continued in the 2nd Ngannou fight. While I think Ngannou made some improvements in his game, Stipe lost mainly because of his own decline.

I'd say moreso Stipe got lucky Ngannou didn't really have an answer for wrestling against Stipe in the 1st fight and had he, Stipe would have been KTFO'ed brutally in the 1st fight too.

 

[fortheo]

He definitely looked old and frail compared to prime Stipe, but It's undeniable that Francis made a lot of improvements, too.

 

[JSN]

His hair said everything

 

[pick999]

he got careless after he rocked francis and got koed

 

[alex21cms]

Francis made him look that way. It's not like Stipe didn't try to mix in the wrestling. You saw what happened when he did....

he didn t mixed up he went for a telegraphed takedown literally same as blaydes did against bb and got koed the fuck off

 

[RobertMugabe]

Stipe is lucky Cormier destroyed his body by going down to 205, had Cormier stayed at heavyweight he would have beat stipe 3/3.

 

[WingzOfRedemption]

Stipe also found out that his only path to victory was nullified by francis' adjustments in the first rd. He got hit pretty fuckkin hard in his noggin after trying to get that takedown in rd1, shit was downhill from there

 

[StonedLemur]

I think that's got more to do with Dana letting his mate Derrick Lewis have 2 title fights despite there being much better fighters available who weren't as funny.

Like who?

 

[Dysto Pian]

I think he needs to lay off the firehouse chili and better himself just like Francis did after his loss. Change it up.

Even if you're over 40 in the heavyweight division that is possible.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

Francis didn't give him any openings like before.

 

[BFoe]

I'd say moreso Stipe got lucky Ngannou didn't really have an answer for wrestling against Stipe in the 1st fight and had he, Stipe would have been KTFO'ed brutally in the 1st fight too.

Stipe’s wrestling was very different in the 2nd fight though. The Stipe in the 1st fight was noticeably bulkier, was more explosive, and committed to blast double legs to take Ngannou down. Stipe in the 2nd fight was more tentative. He only committed to a very sloppy single leg, which is easier to defend. Stipe had poor technique, and Ngannou defended it easily. And I’m sure Ngannou worked on his wrestling a lot to get to that point. All I’m saying is Stipe’s decline and poor technique played a large role in how that wrestling sequence went. I also wasn’t surprised that Ngannou clipped him, as Stipe had looked really hittable to me by the end of that Cormier trilogy.

 

[alex21cms]

Stipe also found out that his only path to victory was nullified by francis' adjustments in the first rd. He got hit pretty fuckkin hard in his noggin after trying to get that takedown in rd1, shit was downhill from there

not really in the first figth stipe was able to take down francis because he ducked under big frank s punches and take adventange of the momentum to double leg him and he didn t do such thing in the rematch

 

[HP_Nut]

DC/Stipe III they both looked like old men struggling.

Admit muh heart sank a lil fer both a em...

I said before the Francis rematch that Stipe looked like he was on the decline, despite winning the trilogy vs DC. The thing is, both guys looked sloppier than just a yr before in the 2nd fight, so Stipe winning that fight may've "masked" his decline to some, but to me, both Stipe & DC looked sloppy in the 3rd fight

 

[JosephTessaro]

Should have retired after DC 3..

His win over DC the 2nd time was so beautiful.. DC was in control, and then Stipe made that amazing adjustment to the body.. What a fight..

Those body punches were a thing of beauty. DC had nothing to offer. They stuck DC in the mud big time.

 

[alex21cms]

Stipe’s wrestling was very different in the 2nd fight though. The Stipe in the 1st fight was noticeably bulkier, was more explosive, and committed to blast double legs to take Ngannou down. Stipe in the 2nd fight was more tentative. He only committed to a very sloppy single leg, which is easier to defend. Stipe had poor technique, and Ngannou defended it easily. And I’m sure Ngannou worked on his wrestling a lot to get to that point. All I’m saying is Stipe’s decline and poor technique played a large role in how that wrestling sequence went. I also wasn’t surprised that Ngannou clipped him, as Stipe had looked really hittable to me by the end of that Cormier trilogy.

he s really always been hittable both Overeem and JDS dropped him before

 

[Substance Abuse]

Stipe has never really been a great athlete and he's been plodding to a degree, as well as predictable. He's also usually got his head on the center line and doesn't have the best defense.

Francis nullified everything he tried. Everything. He improved exponentially since their first fight. If he was able to defend takedowns in the first fight, Stipe would've gotten knocked out then too.

I would also like to add that Stipe beat DC in that third fight by tying him up, pressing him against the cage and wearing on him. He tried the opposite with Francis by slimming down to be quicker. That didn't work. He tried to wrestle. That didn't work. Once Francis stuffed the TD and started to land leg kicks I knew it was a wrap.

 

[chinarice]

Stipe’s wrestling was very different in the 2nd fight though. The Stipe in the 1st fight was noticeably bulkier, was more explosive, and committed to blast double legs to take Ngannou down. Stipe in the 2nd fight was more tentative. He only committed to a very sloppy single leg, which is easier to defend. Stipe had poor technique, and Ngannou defended it easily. And I’m sure Ngannou worked on his wrestling a lot to get to that point. All I’m saying is Stipe’s decline and poor technique played a large role in how that wrestling sequence went. I also wasn’t surprised that Ngannou clipped him, as Stipe had looked really hittable to me by the end of that Cormier trilogy.

Stipe has been hittable his whole career. He wasn't some elusive fighter standing in the first fight. He didn't get killed in the 1st fight because he was able to consistently get and keep Ngannou down.

 

[Portland8242]

I don't know why he and his team thought it was a good idea to show up that light. Extra cardio wasn't going to do anything for him - it was already well on record that his cardio was far better than Ngannou's. It was much more important to have more size and muscle.

 

[Sean Ryan]

Like who?

Err, Stipe for one.