On This Day: Stipe Miocic defeats Daniel Cormier to earn his last win in the UFC – August 15, 2020
Four years ago today, Stipe Miocic scored his last UFC victory.
Perhaps history will change when the consensus heavyweight GOAT makes his anticipated return to the Octagon this November. But for now, Miocic’s last win went down on August 15, 2020, after stepping into the main event spotlight at UFC 252 to close out his iconic trilogy with Daniel Cormier.
After coming up short against Cormier two years earlier at UFC 226, Miocic struck back with a fourth-round TKO over the former two-division titleholder at UFC 241, leaving the series deadlocked at 1-1. Fast forward almost 12 months to the day, Cormier and Miocic would go at it for a third and final time in total silence due to the COVID-19 pandemic that was already in full swing.
Still, Miocic and Cormier delivered a final meeting to remember that ultimately saw the Cleveland native come out on top via a unanimous decision, retaining the heavyweight title and establishing himself as perhaps the best fighter in the division’s history.
‘DC’ retires after second straight loss to Stipe miocic
After suffering back-to-back losses against Miocic, that would be all she wrote for Daniel Cormier.
“I’m not interested in fighting for anything but titles and I don’t imagine there’s going to be a title in the future,” Cormier said in a post-fight interview. “That will be it for me. I’ve had a long run, it’s been great, I just fought my last fight for a heavyweight championship and it was a pretty good fight.”
Since then, Cormier has found success as a color commentator and analyst for the UFC. DC’ is also co-host of ESPN’s Good Buy/Bad Guy alongside former three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen.
Miocic, on the other hand, would go on to take another fight against eventual UFC heavyweight king Francis Ngannou. After shutting down ‘The Predator’ in their first meeting in 2018, Miocic was primed to repeat the process at UFC 260. However, Ngannou had other plans.
Less than 60 seconds into the second round, Ngannou blasted Miocic with a big left hand that bent the champ backward, forcing the referee to step in and call for the stoppage.
Since then, the UFC has only produced two fights for the undisputed heavyweight title.
Miocic plans on becoming the division’s only three-time champion when he meets Jon Jones later this year. The two are expected to headline UFC 309 when the promotion makes its annual pit spot in Madison Square Garden. Originally, the two were set to tussle last November, but a pectoral injury forced ‘Bones’ to bow out of the bout.
