Stipe Miocic News

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

Russell Sai - January 26, 2018

Another champion versus champion superfight has just been announced by the UFC and is set to take place in July at UFC 226. On Friday, the UFC announced that heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will be coaches on the 27th season of The Ultimate Fighter and the two will fight for Miocic’s heavyweight title at UFC 226 on July 7.

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)

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.”

Chris Taylor - January 21, 2018

Dana White discusses Francis Ngannou’s first UFC setback and what could come next for Stipe Miocic. "I don't see why he couldn't fight at heavyweight."@danawhite asked @dc_mma if he'd be interested in a title shot with @StipeMiocicUFC. Can we get this, please? #UFC220 https://t.co/FljOglKMIB

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.

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.

Christine Allen - January 20, 2018

“I don’t care, it is what it is man,” As I watched Stipe Miocic shrug off another question from an MMA Weekly reporter regarding his upcoming bout with number one heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou, I felt frustrated.

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 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.”

Drake Riggs - January 8, 2018

Cleveland Ohio’s Stipe Miocic is the UFC Heavyweight champion and along with that comes with the title of “baddest man on the planet”. Hard to argue…Miocic has been pretty bad throughout his career(and by bad I mean very good. Words.). Since losing an all-out war in a competitive fight with Junior Dos Santos in 2014, Miocic has absolutely laid waste to everyone who’s been put in front of him since. But when it comes to his next opponent, Francis Ngannou…he’s been doing that as well, most commonly with incredible one-punch knockouts. Because of Ngannou’s impressive tear, he has garnered plenty of attention and hype. So much so that maybe the champion’s own organization could be overlooking him. He happens to think so as he said today on the MMA Hour:

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.”

Justin Golightly - January 4, 2018

Stipe Miocic is not intimidated. To the reigning UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou is just another giant man trying to take his head off. The same kind of monster he has faced multiple times before. He’s on the edge of making history, with what the UFC is promoting as his biggest challenge yet just ahead of him. There hasn’t been any trash talk. There hasn’t been any insults. Stipe Miocic is simply letting his record speak for himself, just like his recent Twitter post sending a message to Ngannou. Andrei Arlovski — RD1 0:54 ✅ Fabricio Werdum — RD1 2:47 ✅ Alistair Overeem — RD1 4:27 ✅ Junior dos Santos — RD1 2:22 ✅ Francis Ngannou — 1/20 #AndStill pic.twitter.com/QPApohmtey

Justin Golightly - December 30, 2017

Stipe Miocic is about to step into the Octagon with a force that the UFC is hyping more than any other heavyweight since Brock Lesnar. After a devastating knockout of Alistair Overeem, the promotional power seems to be warranted. The UFC has found the beast it has been looking for and they needed it, especially with Cain Velasquez being out and Miocic beating everyone else. Perhaps this is the reason why Miocic just doesn’t seem intimidated by Francis Ngannou. That and the fact he runs into burning buildings when he’s not fighting the Earth’s baddest men. “This is what I signed up for. Why would I be intimidated by another man? Good for [Francis Ngannou]. Let him get all the hype he wants. I’m going to do what I do and keep winning.” Francis is an amazing fighter. Him starting in so fast. He’s got great power, he’s very athletic. He’s a big heavyweight. He’s definitely showing it and that’s why he’s here. I think everyone [wants to see another knockout by Ngannou] but that ain’t gonna happen. He can do it to someone else, but it ain’t gonna happen to me. I’m the underdog. What do you expect? That’s what the betting line says, right? But I like being underdog because I shut people up.” — Stipe Miocic at the UFC 220 press conference.