Stipe Miocic looking to make history against Francis Ngannou

Stipe Miocic has history in his sights as he looks to make another defence of his UFC heavyweight title against the feared Francis Ngannou in Boston on Saturday night.

Miocic will become the first heavyweight to make three successful defences of the crown if he overcomes the Cameroonian-Frenchman at UFC 220, having clinched the strap by knocking out Fabricio Werdum in May 2016 and then seeing off the challenges of Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos.

Ngannou could be the toughest test of the 35-year-old American’s reign to date and both combatants go into the weekend bout having stopped their previous four opponents in the first round.

The understated Miocic was in bullish mood, though, and said on the prospect of making history: “It’s great, I do definitely think about it but it’s not like ‘ohh my God I have to do it’, it’s just part of the game.

“I walk in, do my thing and walk out ‘and still…’. I’m not a very flashy guy, I don’t really talk smack; I just go in there, do my job and walk out.

“If it’s first round, second round, third, fourth, fifth, I don’t really care. I’m going to walk out with the belt still wrapped round my waist.”

Ngannou has stopped all six of his opponents in the UFC but has never gone beyond the second round in his mixed martial arts career, so Miocic admitted taking him into the trenches could be a tactic.

“He hasn’t really been pushed so we’ll try and do that,” Miocic added on the UFC’s official website. “He’s a tough guy, big, strong, hits hard, just like every heavyweight.”

On the same bill, Daniel Cormier defends his UFC light-heavyweight title against Switzerland’s Volkan Oezdemir.

Cormier, 38, who was reinstated as champion after Jon Jones failed a drug test following their rematch last year, said: “I have to beat Volkan Oezdemir and I have to beat him in a way that leaves no question that I’m the best guy right now.”