Stipe On UFC 211: We Both Know Somebody’s Getting Knocked Out

Stipe Miocic is more than ready as he approaches his second career UFC heavyweight title defense.

The heavyweight champ is currently on a four-fight knockout streak, winning his first career UFC title back in May of last year when he brutally knocked out Fabricio Werdum in Brazil. He followed that up with a first round knockout win over Alistair Overeem in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio for his first title defense.

Now Miocic will attempt to make his second consecutive title defense against Junior dos Santos in the main event of a stacked UFC 211 pay-per-view (PPV) card in Dallas. It will be a rematch of their original meeting back in December of 2014, which ‘JDS’ won via unanimous decision after a hard-fought 25-minute war.

During a media conference call to promote UFC 211 earlier today (Thurs. May 4, 2017), Miocic said that he learned a big lesson his first time around inside the Octagon with dos Santos – that he belongs (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“The lesson I learned, not even really a lesson as much as, just knowing that I belong,” Miocic said. “I belong, that I can hang anyone. I went five rounds with a former champ, a guy who has been a knockout artist and I went five rounds with him, I know I belong. I know that I’m not going anywhere, and look at where I’m at now.”

The Brazilian has lost two of his last four Octagon appearances, with his most recent win coming via unanimous decision against Ben Rothwell over a year ago. Prior to that he had suffered a second round knockout loss to Alistair Overeem.

Dos Santos admits that his initial encounter with Miocic was tough, but this time around he envisions himself getting the job done before the end of the second round:

“That was a really tough fight, you know?” dos Santos said. “Stipe Miocic, he has really heavy hands, you know? He’s got really good boxing skills, it was a tough fight for both of us I think, and for sure we learned a lot from each other from that fight. So, now I think we can be more prepared for each other.”

“I’m a very confident guy I like to be positive,” dos Santos said. “So in my dreams the way I see things going in the fight I can see myself beating him before the end of second round.”

Miocic says that both he and dos Santos know that somebody is going to lose consciousness when they throw-down inside the Octagon, but vows that he will be walking out of the American Airlines Center with the heavyweight strap.

With that being said, Miocic knows he’ll be walking out of Dallas with the belt, but won’t predict a round for the finish: