Stipe Miocic sealed his status as the heavyweight GOAT. He fought and defeated Daniel Cormier in a unanimous decision at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It was an outstanding fight as the two men met for the last time. It was also ‘DC’s’ last outing as a professional fighter.
The two men came into this one with a victory over the other. Cormier knocked Miocic out in the first round of their first meeting. But then, Miocic came back with a TKO win in their second clash. This trilogy fight was to determine the greatest UFC heavyweight of all-time.
Both men had their moments, but in the end, it was Stipe who snatched the win. You can argue that he isn’t the most technically gifted heavyweight, but he is incredibly well-rounded and also is brilliant at making adjustments in-fight. The man follows a gameplan and adapts like few other fighters.
HE HURT HIM! 🤯@DC_MMA stuns Stipe as RD 1 comes to a close. #UFC252 pic.twitter.com/KmpKVzteW7
— UFC (@ufc) August 16, 2020
Early Rounds
The first two rounds were opposites. Miocic made use of his height advantage to dominate the first stanza, but Cormier dropped him at the end of the stanza to steal the round. Then Miocic did the exact opposite to Cormier in the second. You can check out the highlights above and below.
Cormier made excellent use of his jab and right overhand. But Miocic kept moving and came into this fight lighter than he’s ever been before. Right from the off it was an outstanding contest.
OOOOOH! 😱
DC survives Stipe's late RD 2 attack! #UFC252 pic.twitter.com/QFjxoWnLCH
— UFC (@ufc) August 16, 2020
Gritty
This was a tough battle and the defining moment came when Stipe poked Cormier in the eye. ‘DC’ had already done this earlier in the fight and had a history of doing so across the trilogy, so it was ironic that Miocic got away with it here. Cormier couldn’t see out of his eye and Miocic was able to take advantage.
Another key aspect was Miocic’s clinch work. Time and time again, he pushed Cormier up against the fence. This amount of control was central to him winning by decision. The actual action was very even, but he did appear to physically dominate Cormier throughout the later rounds of this fight. In the end, he did enough to claim a unanimous decision.
The champ @stipemiocic is starting to let his hands go 👊 #UFC252 pic.twitter.com/ouvcEUFjY3
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 16, 2020
Time to Go
After the fight, ‘DC’ told Joe Rogan that he will hang up his gloves because he has nothing left to fight for. Cormier recognizes that there won’t be a title shot in his near future. But he has achieved everything possible in the sport, so he can hold his head high. He told Rogan:
“I’m not interested in fighting for anything but titles, and I don’t imagine there’s gonna be a title in the future. So, that’ll be it for me. I’ve had a long run, it’s been great. I just fought my last fight for the heavyweight championship, and it was a pretty good fight.”
In sum, it was a pretty good fight. These two men gave everything across three meetings. Each bout was more grueling than the last. Credit has to go to Stipe who now claims the mantle of greatest UFC heavyweight of all-time. The Ohio native will fight either Francis Ngannou or Jon Jones in the near future.
