Stipe was mililmeters from getting KO'd on several occasions in early rounds,it's a hindsight bias now that Stipe dominates him.. Their another fight would be a toss up at least imo. And Francis has surely improved since then
Umm, you realize Francis isn't immune to being KO'd himself right? Lol literally every fighter is "inches from being KO'd" in every single fight, so that means absolutely nothing. Every time you slip a punch you are "millimeters from being KO'd", that's just what the fight game is.
Stipe ate his biggest punches, slipped and weaved others, traded with him, walked him down, dominated him both on the feet and on the mat. He basically gave Ngannou a full on MMA lesson that night.
Oh, and I had Stipe winning the first time too, so no, it's not hindsight bias for me.