UFC 260 results, highlights: Francis Ngannou brutally knocks out Stipe Miocic to claim heavyweight title

Ngannou pummeled the most accomplished heavyweight in UFC history with ease in the rematch on Saturday

Francis Ngannou couldn't get the job done in his first shot at Stipe Miocic and the UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 220. In the main event of UFC 260, Ngannou left no doubt that he had become the best heavyweight on the planet, knocking out Miocic with a brutal sequence of strikes in the second round to claim heavyweight gold.

Ngannou cracked Miocic several times in the first round, landing massive punches that Miocic absorbed while seeming unaffected. Rather than panic, Ngannou rode forward to the second round, landing a big jab that sent Miocic stumbling to the cage. Moments later, a crushing left hook sent Miocic to the canvas and a follow-up hammerfist on the ground left Miocic out cold at the 52 second mark of Round 2.

The finishing sequence almost seemed as though it was taking a sudden turn. As Ngannou attempted to follow up on the jab that rocked Miocic, Miocic was able to land a heavy counter punch that seemed to stumble Ngannou. As Miocic attempted to charge forward, that was when Ngannou unleashed the brutal hook that sent Miocic crashing backward with his leg bent at an awkward angle to set up the finish.

"He did a mistake of following me, maybe he thought I was hurt or something," Ngannou said of the finishing sequence. "That's when I caught him. We've been putting in a lot of work, we've been working on everything. Every day, we've been working on those things. I worked every day and learned to relax and get the best out of myself instead of going out and rushing."

Ngannou also spoke after the fight of the learning experience that was his first battle with Miocic, a fight that Miocic won by breaking down Ngannou with solid grappling. Ngannou impressively sprawled to defend a Miocic takedown attempt in the first round, pivoting to Miocic's back and landing a sequence of heavy punches.

"That night was the biggest night of my life," Ngannou said. "It might sound weird to say this, but I knew I didn't lose that fight by the way of how I gained experience and learned about mixed martial arts and how to manage a fight. I had a great outcome from that fight. It was a great benefit from that fight and I believe that benefit pushed me higher."

Ngannou is now riding a five-fight winning streak, all by knockout and could be set to face former longtime light heavyweight king Jon Jones in Jones' debut in the heavyweight division. After the fight, Jones initially tweeted "Let's play baby." He then deleted the tweet and replaced it with a more to the point "Show me the money."

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Ngannou addressed the potential challenge of Jones immediately after his win, suggesting he'd be ready for the fight in short order.

"For my opinion, Jon Jones is the greatest of all time for mixed martial arts," Ngannou said. "Him moving up is going to be a good thing. He's a challenge I will take and will be very good on my resume. But this time he will be the challenger, I'm the champ. He's coming up looking for me. I will be here ready to fight in July or August."

Ngannou joined his cornerman for this fight -- and current UFC welterweight champion -- Kamaru Usman and middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in becoming the third titleholder from Africa. Ngannou was at a bit of a loss when asked to describe his feelings after the win and joining the two men as champion.

"I just haven't had enough time to feel it. Absolutely, it feels great, but as for right now, I can't think far ahead. My mind is just right here, right now. Man, this is great. The emotion of it, thinking about everyone behind it," Ngannou said. "It's not just about the belt, it's about what it represents. It's the principle, it's the ethic, the dream, the life. It's about the people that are behind me, the people that have joined me in the dream and my journey, who believed me and put their hands on the dirt to get this done. It's all about it. This is something way beyond me."

Elsewhere on the card, Vicente Luque and Tyron Woodley threw down in an incredible three minutes of action. The two both did damage to one another and left their opponent stunned for moments, including a point where Luque had Woodley on wobbled legs as he tried to escape by skating across the cage. But after Woodley returned fire and hurt Luque, Luque dropped him and eventually sunk in a choke for the win. Plus, "Sugar" Sean O'Malley got back to his winning ways with a third-round knockout of Thomas Almeida. He nearly finished him in the first round, but attempted to do a walk-off and let Almeida off the hook.

CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Saturday bringing you all the results and highlights from the UFC 260 below.

UFC 260 card and results

• Francis Ngannou (c) def. Stipe Miocic (c) via second-round TKO (punches)
• Vicente Luque def. Tyron Woodley via first-round submission (D'Arce choke)
  
• Sean O'Malley def. Thomas Almeida via third-round knockout (punch)
• Miranda Maverick def. Gillian Robertson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Jamie Mullarkey def. Khama Worthy via first-round knockout (punch)
  
• Alonzo Menifield def. Fabio Cherant via first-round submission (von Flue choke)
• Abubakar Nurmagomedov def. Jared Gooden via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  
• Michał Oleksiejczuk def. Modestas Bukauskas via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Omar Morales def. Shane Young via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Marc-Andre Barriault def. Abu Azaitar via third-round TKO (punches)

[Mar 28, 2021 at 12:17 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Official result: Francis Ngannou def. Stipe Miocic via knockout, Round 2 -- Ngannou is the new UFC heavyweight champion of the world!

[Mar 28, 2021 at 12:16 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou -- Round 2: Ngannou cracked with a low kick early, countering Miocic trying to come in. Ngannou then landed a sweeping left hook, then came in with a big left that stumbled Miocic! Miocic tried to fire back and got dropped. Before the referee could stop the fight, Ngannou landed a massive bomb on the ground, putting Miocic out cold.

[Mar 28, 2021 at 12:13 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Ngannou ripped with a head kick that partially connected. Miocic settled down and began circling again, slowing the pace of the fight in the process. Ngannou landed another heavy leg kick as he continued to stalk. The round came to a close with neither man getting in a final shot. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Ngannou

[Mar 28, 2021 at 12:11 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Miocic dipped down for his first takedown attempt of the fight but Ngannou sprawled and took the back. Ngannou then unloaded with big punches, drilling Miocic before finally separating.

[Mar 28, 2021 at 12:10 am ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou -- Round 1: Ngannou opened the fight with a heavy low kick as Miocic circled outside the cage. Ngannou then dug to the body with a pair of punches. Miocic landed his own leg kick. Ngannou landed a bomb to the side of Miocic's head and Miocic ate it fine, not wobbling at all.

[Mar 28, 2021 at 12:03 am ET · Brandon Wise]

Interesting note for the gambling world that the house took a lot of bets on Miocic today as the underdog.

[Mar 27, 2021 at 11:54 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

It's main event time! Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou. Five rounds for the UFC heavyweight championship -- but needing all five rounds seems unlikely.

[Mar 27, 2021 at 11:46 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Tyron Woodley vs. Vicente Luque -- Round 1: Woodley stormed out with a big punch right into a clinch, showing more aggression than he has in his three most recent fights. Luque avoided the takedown and turned the fight around, pushing Woodley into the cage. Luque landed some short shoulder strikes and then threw knees to the legs. Woodley threw a few big rights after they separated and charged forward again. Again, Luque pushed Woodley into the cage, working hard punches to the body. Woodley again alanded a bomb when they separated, but Luque came back with his own bomb and another. Luque poured it on while Woodley stumbled around the Octagon. Luque then locked in a d'arce choke, forcing Woodley to tap out. A big win for Luque and Woodley has lost four in a row. Official result: Vicente Luque def. Tyron Woodley via submission (d'arce choke), Round 1.

[Mar 27, 2021 at 11:31 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Up next, it's Tyron Woodley vs. Vicente Luque in the welterweight co-main event

[Mar 27, 2021 at 11:25 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Sean O'Malley vs. Thomas Almeida -- Round 3: O'Malley landed a heavy leg kick again, spinning Almeida 360 degrees. Another leg kick seemed to bother Almeida badly. O'Malley then began working in more punches, though Almeida snuck in a good right of his own. O'Malley cracked again with a good right hand. O'Malley Cracked hard with a left, dropping Almeida. Again he went to walk off, but the ref again didn't stop it, so O'Malley jumped in with a huge punch and that was it for Almeida. Official result: Sean O'Malley def. Thomas Almeida via KO, Round 3.

[Mar 27, 2021 at 11:20 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Sean O'Malley vs. Thomas Almeida -- Round 2: O'Malley landed an early heavy leg kick, continuing to mix up his strikes. Almeida landed his own hard leg kick moments later. O'Malley worked some hard stomp kicks to Almeida's leg and then switched those kicks to the body. Almeida landed two more leg kicks, keeping one effective weapon, even as O'Malley dominated the striking as a whole. A much slower round in terms of effective strikes landed as O'Malley has slowed quite a bit in output. 

[Mar 27, 2021 at 11:13 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Almeida landed a nice right hand but took another kick to the body from O'Malley. O'Malley dropped Almeida with a big head kick and follow-up punch, but he failed to continue the attack and the referee allowed the fight to continue. A very big mistake by O'Malley where he could have easily gotten the KO. Almeida quickly recovered and started trying to pressure forward. O'Malley landed two more head kicks but Almeida took them well and landed a right hand. A good round for O'Malley, but also a disappointing one where he let Almeida off the hook.

[Mar 27, 2021 at 11:10 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Sean O'Malley vs. Thomas Almeida -- Round 1: O'Malley opened with a series of long kicks to the body and legs of Almeida. Almeida drilled a calf kick, but O'Malley came back with a hard one of his own. O'Malley drilled Almeida with a body kick also and Almeida seemed to be struggling to find his timing before eating a spinning back kick to the body.

[Mar 27, 2021 at 11:01 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Up next, Sean O'Malley faces Thomas Almeida in a bantamweight fight. O'Malley is looking to bounce back from his first career victory.

[Mar 27, 2021 at 10:55 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Official result: Miranda Maverick def. Gillian Robertson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

[Mar 27, 2021 at 10:54 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Miranda Maverick vs. Gillian Robertson -- Round 3: Maverick threw a good head kick early and then pushed forward, flurrying and landing many hard punches. Robertson shot in for a takedown, but Maverick defended. On another takedown attempt, Maverick defended and ended up taking the back. Maverick moved to mount and then side control, dropping big strikes to the head of Robertson. Robertson nearly locked up an armbar but couldn't secure the hold, ending up below Maverick again. Maverick stood up and waived Robertson to her feet, only to score another takedown to close the round.

[Mar 27, 2021 at 10:48 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Miranda Maverick vs. Gillian Robertson -- Round 2: Maverick came out strong, throwing a variety of punches and kicks while forcing Robertson backward. Robertson managed to grab a body lock, move to the back and take Maverick down. Robertson began fishing for positional advancement while Maverick tried to escape. Robertson kept the pressure on while Maverick continued to try to find a gap to get back to her feet. Despite being in bad positions for much of the round, Maverick eventually got back to her feet with 30 seconds left to throw a good flurry of strikes before the horn.

[Mar 27, 2021 at 10:41 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Miranda Maverick vs. Gillian Robertson -- Round 1: The women traded strikes in early punching exchanges, with both getting some shots through. Robertson continued to push out front kicks to attempt and keep Maverick at distance. Robertson landed a sharp right hand counter after a flurry from Maverick, as she continued patiently trying to nullify the more aggressive bursts of offense from Maverick. Maverick caught a kick, however, and used that to take Robertson down. Robertson managed to get back to her feet without taking any real damage. Maverick drove through another takedown moments later, putting Robertson right back on her back and landing a few strikes from the top before the round ended.