Miocic can now lay claim to being the greatest heavyweight champion in UFC history
By Brent Brookhouse & Brian Campbell of CBS
The third fight in classic fight trilogies doesn’t always live up to the lofty expectations set by the two previous meetings. In the case of UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic’s rubber match with Daniel Cormier at UFC 252, however, the third meeting surpassed anything that happened in the first two bouts as Miocic managed to outwork Cormier over five rounds for a unanimous decision victory in a thrilling battle.
The big overhand right of Cormier that won him the championship by knockout in their first fight at UFC 226 landed with regularity throughout the fight, but Miocic was able to absorb the strikes and continue to fire back with his own as the early rounds were spent mostly going shot-for-shot between the two. The right hand was opened up early by the threat of Cormier’s wrestling, with one actual takedown scored in the first round, and takedown feints after bringing Miocic’s hands down and leaving him open to the winging shots to the jaw.
At the end of Round 2, Miocic exploded with big strikes that dropped Cormier against the cage, leaving him seconds from being stopped before the horn sounded to save him from the TKO and allowing him to recover in his corner. Things got worse for Cormier in the third round as he spent the first half of the round recovering from being rocked before suffering a brutal eye poke late in the frame that left his eye swollen and his vision compromised for the rest of the fight. Cormier managed to fight through the rough situations, avoiding being knocked out as he was in the UFC 241 rematch where dropped the heavyweight title back to Miocic and actually firing back through the fourth round even after telling his corner he was unable to see out of his left eye. Read more from CBS
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