Stipe Miocic News

Justin Golightly - January 30, 2018

Out of nowhere, we were suddenly hit with probably the biggest fight of the year in 2018. Whether there is some sort of triumphant return of Conor McGregor or not, Daniel Cormier jumping up to heavyweight to challenge Stipe Miocic for his title as his career comes to close is absolutely gigantic. Just as with his fight with Francis Ngannou, don’t expect a whole lot of trash talk. Miocic is actually happy for both of them that fight got made, as well as expressing a lot of respect for the light heavyweight champ. “[The fight with Daniel Cormier] just happened. It was kind of crazy how it all happened. I’m just glad it all worked out and we can both do it and both make a lot of money doing it. DC’s a great guy. He’s an amazing fighter. He’s done so much stuff in his life. He went to the Olympics twice, won the Grand Prix in Strikeforce and all that. It made sense for both of us and we’re doing it.”

Justin Golightly - January 27, 2018

If you happened to be away from the internet and felt the ground shaking last night, it was probably just the most ridiculous fight announcement you’ve ever heard. Stipe Miocic will defend his UFC heavyweight title against none other than UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. The match-up will no doubt bring a lot of attention and gamblers throwing their money around. The opening odds courtesy of Best Fight Odds have already been put up and it’s a lot closer than you think. Cormier opened as a slight underdog at +170, while Miocic sits at -215.

Justin Golightly - January 27, 2018

It’s true. Oh, it’s true. Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic are going to fight and the world will probably never be the same. Despite how earth-shatteringly insane the match-up is, some people somehow still aren’t in support of it. In all things, especially in MMA, you can’t please everyone even with the most legendary of match-ups. One of those people who aren’t happy, is former UFC light heavyweight challenger Alexander Gustafsson. “Daniel Cormier is fighting Stipe [Miocic]? Well, stop running and fight me. Don’t even think about giving the fight to anyone else. I have been quiet. I had a tough time after my last fight (injury etc.) but I’m next in line and the [Cormier] fight is mine. Come on, let’s have a another dance for the fans, UFC.” — Alexander Gustafsson via his official Facebook.

Justin Golightly - January 27, 2018

In case you haven’t heard the news, maybe you need to sit down. UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is going to challenge Stipe Miocic for his UFC heavyweight belt in July after they coach a season of The Ultimate Fighter. We aren’t kidding. This is really happening. While this is insane, Cormier’s teammate Cain Velasquez may be hinting at something even crazier. Even the UFC’s official Twitter account was confused at what was going on. Either that, or they’re cleverly stirring the speculation pot. Like always, I’m gonna be in the gym everyday to help my brother @dc_mma become the next heavyweight champ at #UFC226. Once he wins, things could get interesting. #AndNew #WeAreAKA #GonnaGetMyBeltBack

Justin Golightly - January 26, 2018

All through the lead up to UFC 220, most of the spotlight was on Stipe Miocic‘s opponent Francis Ngannou. He was built up to be a genetic freak who threatened to take out the reigning and defending UFC heavyweight champion just as fast as he has dispatched of his other competition. No question Ngannou has an incredible story and was someone fresh, but Miocic couldn’t help but feel a little disrespected going into the event. After all, he was on the precipice of making history by breaking the division’s title defense record. After getting past the test, he declared himself the best heavyweight champ of all time, prompting the UFC to ask the fans if this was really true. This caused Miocic’s wife to finally lash out at the organization. “So disappointing and honestly in shock that you would even write this post. Get behind your Champion. It’s time. Continued disrespect for the blue collar, stand up individual serving his community, and dominating his division. This is a man that goes above and beyond for everyone he meets and does nothing but gracefully display his talent. He is a shining example of a hero, a family man, a role model for kids and everyone else he encounters. You really need to re-evaluate who it is that you choose to stand behind. Very disappointing. But sadly, not surprising.” — Ryan Miocic responding to the UFC on Instagram as reported by WKYC 3.

Tom Taylor - January 25, 2018

Last weekend, the UFC touched down in the fight hub of Boston, MA with the exciting UFC 220. Given that there were two title fights on this bill, it’s no surprise that it caused some movement in the UFC’s official rankings. The most significant moves to arise from UFC 220 occured on the pound-for-pound list, where heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier both headed north. Stipe Miocic now sits at 6 on this vaunted listed, while Daniel Cormier resides at 4 in a tie with Max Holloway. Here are the newly updated UFC rankings (h/t MMAMania)

Tom Taylor - January 23, 2018

Last weekend, the UFC touched down in Boston, Massachusetts with UFC 220. In the main event, we saw UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic halt the momentum of the massively hyped Francis Ngannou, outperforming him from bell-to-bell en route to a lopsided unanimous decision.

Justin Golightly - January 23, 2018

All eyes were on UFC 220’s main event between Stipe Moicic and Francis Ngannou. Miocic was up against a highly hyped and dangerous Ngannou, with his belt and a record on the line. He passed the test and proved he’s still the best in the world. One man who was watching would like to dispute that. Fabricio Werdum believes he’s the next to fight Stipe Miocic and will attempt to take back the title that he lost in unexpected and devastating fashion back at UFC 198. “The UFC said nothing yet, but I think I’m the next one. I deserve this. Not just because of my last fights, but [I’ve been fighting] for 20 years. I’ve [been fighting] for a long. I think I deserve it. My goal is to put one more belt on my wall. I have two. The third one coming, for sure. […] 100 percent, I will be a champion this year again. I know Stipe Miocic. I respect him. I like him.”

Tom Taylor - January 21, 2018

Last night, UFC heavyweight Stipe Miocic made easy work of surging knockout artist Francis Ngannou, defending his title with a lopsided, unanimous decision. If you watched the pre-fight promos for this fight, however, this result might have come as a bit of a surprise. In the buildup to this fight, many members of the MMA community noted that the UFC hype machine seemed to be focused on Ngannou. Even Miocic was aware of this, admitting he felt a bit “disrespected.”

Tom Taylor - January 20, 2018

Last night, in the main event of UFC 220, Stipe Miocic made a record-setting third-straight defense of the UFC heavyweight title, derailing the hype train of French-Cameroonian knockout artist Francis Ngannou with a dominant unanimous decision win. In the buildup to this fight, many members of the MMA community noted that the promotion seemed to hope Ngannou would win the title, evidently sensing it had found it’s next cash cow. Miocic made no secret of the fact that he shared this opinion, admitting he felt disrespected by the promotion.

Russell Sai - January 20, 2018

Stipe Miocic became the first man in history to defend the UFC heavyweight title three consecutive times on Saturday night at UFC 220 in Boston. Miocic was matched up against the feared and powerful knockout artist Francis Ngannou and was able to put the brakes on Ngannou’s quick rise and exposed some holes in his game. The UFC heavyweight champion ended up winning a five-round unanimous decision and cemented his place in history.

Tom Taylor - January 20, 2018

In the main event of UFC 220, Stipe Miocic attempted a record-setting third-straight defense of the UFC heavyweight title. His opponent was surging French-Cameroonian knockout artist Francis Ngannou. Much like Volkan Oezdemir before him, the challenger Francis Ngannou came out extremely aggressive. And much like Daniel Cormier before him, Miocic weathered the storm, defended intelligently, and picked his shots. Once he’d survived his challenger’s initial barrage, Miocic began to land, and even seemed to wobble his challenger on several occasions. Despite several scares, however, champion and challenger survived to the second.

Justin Golightly - January 17, 2018

From the sand mines and homelessness in France, Francis Ngannou has overcome everything and entered a world of crisp suits and headlining UFC 220. Ngannou’s journey has been nothing short of incredible, but it’s not just about him, it’s about where he came from. His rise to success leads hopeful footsteps that people back home can follow. Whether that dream be fighting for a UFC championship, or simply finishing school, Ngannou wants to show generations of people that anything is possible. “This is going to close the chapter of my childhood and teenage years. All that time I have been frustrated with my whole life, with a feeling that I was always the last one who never had a chance. So I want to close that. I want to leave that behind me. This journey now is not only mine, it’s for all Cameroonians and for the whole of Africa and all of France, too. In Africa, when I started the journey, I was by myself. No one believed me at that time, and today all of them believe in me and they almost rely on me. It’s very important, because I can bring hope to someone or help someone to be ambitious and tell them that everything is possible.”

Justin Golightly - January 12, 2018

A giant specimen with natural strength and constantly evolving skills. Six UFC fights, all finishes, complete with an action movie-style knockout over Alistair Overeem. This is Francis Ngannou. The next big thing. The monster who is walking into the Octagon in a week against Stipe Miocic, a fight the heavyweight champion says himself that the UFC wants him to lose. However, can Ngannou fulfill all of the UFC’s prophecies? Francis Ngannou thinks he can and he will, in two rounds at UFC 220 in Boston. “I’ve never been in that level but I always train for that level. When I go to my training camp, I train my conditioning, everything, I prepare [for] a regular fight, for the regular round fight. Even the fight against Alistair Overeem, I was already prepared for five rounds because I knew I was going to have Stipe [Miocic] after that. That is the problem because people always want to believe what they see.”

Justin Golightly - January 11, 2018

The UFC’s first pay-per-view of 2018 is just over a week away and they’ve been strapping a rocket ship of hype to the card. It looks like the marketing behind it is stepping into overdrive as it draws even closer. New beer sponsor Modelo has chosen UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic to be involved in their new ‘Fighting Spirit’ ad campaign, highlighting special stories of blue collar success. Aside from Reebok and Conor McGregor’s Monster Energy commercial, this looks to be one of the ads yet. “As we looked across the UFC, Stipe [Miocic] rose to the top as one of the stories we’d like to tell and we’re looking forward to telling the stories of other UFC fighters with this digital video series.” — Ann Legan, Modelo’s Vice President of Marketing, speaking to ESPN.

Justin Golightly - January 9, 2018

The danger of Francis Ngannou has reached mythic proportions as UFC 220 draws closer and closer. In his short but meteoric rise, Ngannou has become almost a folk hero. His documentary is a crazy eye-opening rags to riches story and we all know by now that he has record-breaking punching power. However, his head coach Fernand Lopez says there are still a lot more that no one has seen yet, from his ground game to even more lethal striking techniques. Quite frankly, he’s afraid of what Ngannou can do to opponents. “I think there are a lot of fighters in the UFC who we’ve never seen the best of because they’ve never had the opportunity to showcase the skills they have. If you’re going to a decision every time you fight, you may have time to show everything, but this guy [Francis Ngannou], he’s spent like one hour in [the cage] his whole career. People really don’t know what this guy can do. Submissions, heel hooks, if you see this guy does a heel hook or guillotine someone, it’s crazy. He’s got a very quick, very nasty guillotine, very nasty heel hook. There are so many skills he can do.”

Tom Taylor - January 8, 2018

Arguably the biggest fight on the horizon at present will occur in the main event of UFC 220 on January 20, when Stipe Miocic attempts a record-breaking third-straight defense of the UFC heavyweight title opposite Francis Ngannou, a true force of destruction widely regarded as the next big thing in MMA. While Miocic stands to become the most dominant heavyweight champion in UFC history on this card, he’s actually been pegged as the underdog against the ferocious Ngannou. In the opinion of MMA analyst and Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix contestant Chael Sonnen, however, this is a mistake.

Justin Golightly - January 6, 2018

The biggest heavyweight fight potentially of all-time is a couple of weeks away and it is curiously absent of trash talk. Although, when you’re two guys like Francis Ngannou and Stipe Miocic, the need to say threatening things has never really been something that comes up a lot. Both men are equally humble as they are frightening. Both men have made it a habit of dispatching other scary dudes. Which is why Miocic shrugs at the notion of Ngannou’s horror story mythos being built around him and his record-breaking punching power. To Stipe Miocic, Ngannou is just one more guy like he’s fought over and over. “[Franics Ngannou]’s tough, he’s big, strong, hits hard but he’s just another dude. That’s what it is. You’re telling me Mark Hunt doesn’t hit that hard? Or Roy Nelson? Or Junior dos Santos? Come on. He hits hard and definitely if you get hit square like that [it’s bad news], but I’m definitely going to keep my head up, keep my head on a swivel, and make sure I’m doing everything right.”