First of all ,I am proud of Ngannou. What a Performance!!! He is the greatest Combat Athlete in a decade, maybe since Evander Holyfield (I have reasons for including him, I will not discuss now). He made a great choice leaving the UFC. His performance actually redeemed the UFC, after the mockery of the Paul brothers have made of MMA fighters, specifically former UFC fighters including former champs.The UFC owes him a thanks!
Anyway, yes he has improved since Stipe. Stipe would do so well now. But I have to reflect on the performance of Stipe, that gave up so much in terms of size. Recently, Ngannou went on record to say Stipe would handle Jon Jones. He must have realized after their bout, Stipe is special. His issue is he is not marketable. Anyway, the UFC needs to hype the Stipe/Jones fight and now they have ammo (that is, if Jones makes it to this match).