Four reasons you have to watch UFC 260: Miocic vs Ngannou 2 on BT Sport

The big fights just keep on coming as we bring you another unmissable world title tilt from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas at UFC 260 on Saturday night.

All-time heavyweight great Stipe Miocic puts his championship gold on the line in a fascinating rematch against "The Predator" Francis Ngannou.

Despite the agony of Alexander Volkanovski vs Brian Ortega being lost to Covid, there are still plenty of reasons why you're going to be glued to your TV for this one.

The Heavyweight GOAT back in action

If there were any debate over who could lay claim to be the UFC’s greatest-ever heavyweight, Miocic put an end to that discourse with a brilliant victory over Daniel Cormier in last summer’s trilogy bout.

Cormier’s shock knockout win at UFC 226 in July 2018 is Miocic’s only defeat in more than six years – and after the Ohio fireman knocked out and then comfortably outpointed DC in two subsequent rematches, it’s safe to say he took his revenge.

The two-time heavyweight king has beaten every notable name of his era, often in emphatic style, and holds the record for the most consecutive heavyweight title defences (3) and most heavyweight title defences (4) in UFC history.

Over the course of his storied UFC tenure, Miocic has pocketed nine bonuses, including five Performance Of the Night awards and three Fight of the Night awards.

He’s also third on the UFC’s pound-for-pound standings, behind only Jon Jones and Kamaru Usman.

But at 38-years-old, it’s unclear how many years he has left at the top. The last twelve months have seen some of the organisation's biggest names bow out of the game, from Khabib Nurmagomedov to Daniel Cormier and Henry Cejudo.

There’s no indication that Miocic is keen to hang the gloves up imminently, but fight fans should enjoy the spectacle while they can all the same.

The Predator 2.0?

Is Ngannou the hardest-hitting fighter in all of combat sports?

He might just be – but as his first meeting against Stipe Miocic showed, you need a little more than brick fists in your locker to conquer the heavyweight division.

Since that defeat to Miocic at UFC 220 - his first attempt at UFC gold - Ngannou has gone 4-1 facing some of the biggest names in the division.

His only loss in that time, a three-round snorefest against Derrick Lewis at UFC 226, shows the French-Cameroonian fighter may still have weaknesses in his grappling.

But as bounce-back victories against top grapplers Curtis Blaydes and Cain Velasquez showed, you have to be at the top of your game to expose Ngannou’s flaws or else be annihilated by his other-worldly power.

The champion has the blueprint for defeating Ngannou having comfortably done so once before; the onus now is on the 34-year-old challenger to demonstrate he has added more tools to his arsenal to put up a sterner test this time around.

A combined two minutes and 41 seconds fight time in his previous four fights means Ngannou has not been made to show this yet; is “The Predator” saving a surprise for Miocic on Saturday night?

The end of an era? Or the start of a comeback?

The pressure is on Tyron Woodley this weekend.

The former welterweight king, currently on a three-fight losing skid that marks the worst run of his career, is running out of both time and chances to turn his fortunes around.

Having seen high-profile names like Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos let go from the promotion in recent months, Woodley may fear he could be next if the fight goes against him on Saturday night.

But the surface numbers alone don’t tell the full story of his recent difficult spell; his three straight defeats have come against arguably the top three men in the division in Kamaru Usman, Gilbert Burns and Colby Covington.

It is against the likes of Vicente Luque that we will learn more about the level Woodley now resides.

The Brazilian is a tough, perennially-ranked contender, who has only fallen flat against Stephen Thompson and Leon Edwards since 2015.

Can Woodley remind fans of the fighter that saw him talked up as one of the greatest 170lbers of all time? 

The Sugar Show returns for season two

Sean O’Malley was forced to eat a significant slice of humble pie after tasting defeat in the fight many had expected would propel him towards the top of the bantamweight division.

Coming off the back of one of the all-time great knockout-wins against Eddie Wineland, O’Malley looked perfectly set to gatecrash the top of the UFC rankings pending another impressive win against Marlon Vera.

Instead, Vera picked apart O’Malley during an impressive performance on his way to stopping the surging prospect in style.

It’s been seven months since his first professional defeat but the 12-1 prospect returns at UFC 260 promising to remind fans of the reason he became one of the most talked-about athletes on the roster.

“I’m in the perfect spot right now,” he told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto this week.

“If I can get in there and reintroduce the world to the Sugar Show 2.0, I’m a different animal now, I’m a different athlete, I’m a different skill level, different mindset.

“I’m ready to get out there.”  

The Montana-born fighter takes on former standout 135lb prospect Thomas Almeida, himself looking to rebuild and rescue his UFC career after four defeats in his last five fights.

Can the Brazilian spoil season two of The Sugar Show?

Watch UFC 260 live on BT Sport 2 HD from midnight on Saturday or catch up spoiler free on the BT Sport app on Sunday morning.