5 Defining Moments: Stipe Miocic

Stipe Miocic faces a familiar threat to his reign.

The undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder will defend his crown against Francis Ngannou in the UFC 260 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The two men met once previously, as Miocic cruised to a unanimous decision over “The Predator” at UFC 220 a little more than three years ago. Ngannou now returns for a second pass at the throne and does so on the strength of a four-fight winning streak.

As Miocic prepares for his rematch with the Cameroon-born Frenchman, a look at five of the moments that have come to define his remarkable career:

1. Cracks in the Armor

Perfect records tend not to last inside the Octagon. Stefan Struve stopped the previously undefeated Miocic with second-round punches in the UFC on Fuel TV 5 headliner on Sept. 29, 2012 at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, England. The 6-foot-11 Dutchman closed it out 3:50 into Round 2. Miocic did some excellent work in the first round, as he ripped rights and lefts to the head and body of the Bob Schrijber protégé. The blows to Struve’s midsection might have paid serious dividends had the fight lasted longer. However, momentum abandoned Miocic in Round 2. Struve looked like a different fighter, as he assumed a far more aggressive approach with the right uppercut as his chief weapon. He had Miocic on the run more than once. After the Strong Style Fight Team lynchpin slipped near the cage, Struve unleashed two hellacious right crosses that permanently altered the direction of the bout. A series of uppercuts followed, and one final left hook was enough to force referee Herb Dean’s hand. Miocic slumped beneath the bitter taste of defeat.

2. No Mercy

Miocic laid waste to 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix winner Mark Hunt, capping a dominant performance with a fifth-round technical knockout in the UFC Fight Night 65 main event on May 10, 2015 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, Australia. In a beatdown of historic proportions, Miocic sealed the beloved Kiwi’s fate with one final burst of ground-and-pound 2:47 into Round 5. The fight was never competitive, and the eye-popping statistical data it generated tells the tale. Miocic executed a career-high six takedowns and outstruck “The Super Samoan” by a staggering 361-46 margin in total strikes—the most lopsided strike differential in Ultimate Fighting Championship history at the time, according to UFC President Dana White. He outlanded Hunt 125-6 in the third round 62-7 in the fourth and 70-0 in the fifth. In doing so, Miocic established several single-fight heavyweight records that stand to this day: total strikes landed (361), total strikes attempted (464), total head strikes landed (330) and total ground strikes landed (296).

3. Point Blank

He silenced a throng with one swing of his hammer, as Miocic knocked out Fabricio Werdum to become the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder in the UFC 198 headliner on May 14, 2016 at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil. An unconscious Werdum hit the canvas 2:47 into Round 1, an eerie hush passing over the 40,000-plus fans in attendance. The two men traded punches and kicks before Werdum made his move—and his mistake. The Kings MMA export charged forward and walked into a counter right hook from the backpedaling Miocic. His lights were out before he landed on the mat, his reign atop the heavyweight division at an end.

4. Best Served Cold

Miocic had firm control over his surroundings when the Strong Style Fight Team cornerstone avenged one of his career defeats and knifed through Junior dos Santos to retain the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title in the UFC 211 headliner on May 13, 2017 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Miocic finished it 2:22 into Round 1. Dos Santos enjoyed some early success with a series of kicks to the champion’s lower leg. Though he did so with a limp, Miocic shrugged off the damage, backed the Brazilian to the fence and let his heavy hands do the rest. The Euclid, Ohio, native sent dos Santos crashing to the canvas with a clubbing right and picked his bones with follow-up ground strikes, prompting the stoppage.

5. Three’s Company

Eternal bragging rights belong to Miocic, as he retained the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over Daniel Cormier in the UFC 252 main event on Aug. 15, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Scores were 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47, all for Miocic, who completed his historic trilogy against “DC” with a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head series. He controlled long stretches of the fight in the clinch along the fence, where he stalled and frustrated Cormier. Miocic nearly finished the American Kickboxing Academy captain at the end of the second round, as he chased down the Lafayette, Louisiana, native with sweeping right hands, dropped him at the base of the cage and moved to a crouched full mount, at which point he unleashed his ground-and-pound. Had a few more seconds been on the clock, Miocic might have ended it. Still, Cormier had his moments. He staggered Miocic with clubbing right hands in the first and fourth rounds, snapped back the champion’s head with stiff jabs and mixed in a few leg kicks. However, he suffered a horrendous third-round eye poke that left him with compromised vision for the remainder of the fight. Ahead on the scorecards, Miocic steered clear of danger in Round 5 by pinning the challenger to the fence, scoring with shoulder strikes and running out the remaining time.