You're right in that Stipe leaves the trash talk behind, and we love him for it. It's refreshing when fighters like Stipe and Whittaker can just be real without the showmanship bs. I think Stipe vs Cormier is a really interesting prospect- Cormier himself being one of the GOATs, and Stipe firmly cementing himself in there after last week's showing. I think Stipe's length and striking will be the deciding factor here, along with his great wrestling, which should be enough to negate Cormier's elite wrestling ability (maybe best wrestling in the UFC). Stipe should be able to stay away from getting controlled and mounted and brutalise Cormier with his range and excellent boxing, and despite improvements recently, Cormier leaves a lot to be desired with regards to his striking ability. Against Volkan we saw him have some nice counters but he's slow and doesn't hit particularly hard, two factors that will allow Stipe to tee off on him.
I think Ngannou needs to lose about 20lbs and redefine his fighting style. He should work towards being a TDD-focused counterpuncher. That would enable him to stay upright and not expend too much energy, which would negate both his massive weaknesses- his poor ground game, and his atrocious cardio- while still keeping his strengths (speed, power) in play. Ngannou should go the Overeem route and focus on these aspects and he could be an excellent fighter. I do worry about his ability to go against elite HWs with wrestling like Cain, Werdum, etc. now we've seen his vulnerabilities. The Luis Henrique fight gave us a glimpse but we didn't see how significant these vulnerabilities were until the Stipe showdown.
Great points - only sorry I didn't catch it soon enough to upvote.