Stipe Miocic defeated Daniel Cormier at UFC 241 and took back what is his – the heavyweight title belt. In the long-awaited rematch of these two fighters, Miocic came out victorious. He knocked out Cormier in the fourth round, and fully redeemed for his loss at UFC 226 last year when DC took away the title from him.
Miocic (19-3) didn’t fight ever since, and his focus was solely on getting even with Cormier (22-2-1). Almost one year after that defeat, he reclaimed the throne. This victory has brought Miocic to the second place on the all-time list of title-fight wins. The 36-year old has five of them, while Randy Couture sits at six. And if he continues with this tempo, he just might be there to reach one of the greatest ever of this sport.
In the final minute of the fourth round, Miocic sent one severe body shot which disturber DC. After that hs right hand found the way to Cormier’s face, and after that, another hard right did enough for Cormier to lose the ground under his feet. He ended on the fence, and that was pretty much the end of the story for him. Miocic quickly finished the battle.
“DC is a tough guy, I’ve got to give it to him,” Miocic said. “I saw some weakness in that third round, and then in that fourth round, I caught him with that right hand, thank God, because he’s tough.”
Cormier was leading on the scoreboards in the moments when the fight ended. Two judges outside the ring gave him a 29-28 advantage, and the third one 30-27.
DC opened the fight better, with few hard hits and a takedown. The second round was very exciting, and in some moments, the fighters decided to enter an exchange even if that cost for them to receive some hits.
Then in the third round, the situation was a bit different. Cormier was looking a bit tired, and his breathing was heavier. On the other side, Miocic was showing signs of aggressive, and he definitely seemed lighter and sharper.
That was proved right and in the next round, we saw a knockout which set the crowd on fire.
Following the match, Miocic explained that he and his coach noticed Cormier’s struggles in the third round. They decided to use his slower breathing and attack his body, specifically stomach. It made DC even more tired and gave the result in the end.
“I felt like that hook to the body was hurting him,” Miocic said. “His hands were dropping, so I came over the top more. My coach told me to use that right hand.”
Cormier suffered the second loss in his career. During his interviews before the fight, he indicated that he might retire after this battle. The speculations about that appeared almost immediately following the match. Some are saying that he won’t retire with a loss, while others claim that he already made that decision before.
The fighter himself stated that he needs to talk with his family first and then decide.
