The Superfight: Stipe Miocic(C) v Daniel Cormier(C) UFC 226
Light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier enters the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday looking to join an illustrius group of fighters to hold a UFC title in two weight classes. Only Randy Couture, BJ Penn, GSP and Conor Mcgregor have achieved the feat in the 25 year history of the company.
DC makes his return to Heavyweight after a near 5 year absence that saw him claim the 205 pound title and play his part in one of the most infamous rivalries in MMA history opposite Jon Jones. Coming off a lob sided victory over Switzerland’s Volkan Oezdemir and with the LHW division stagnating in the absence of Jones and the sporadic appearances of Alexander Gustaffson, the UFC were left with little option but to grant DC a shot at the Heavyweight title.
A chance that had long been discussed but had previously seemed unlikely due to Cormier’s close relationship with Cain Velasquez.
In his way stands Stipe Miocic, one of the greatest Heavyweights to ever grace the Octagon. Untouchable amongst the current roster of Heavyweights, Miocic has established a dominance never before seen in the division, a 7-2 start to his UFC tenure culminated in a 54 second destruction of Andrei Arlovski that led him to a shot at Fabricio Werdum’s title at UFC 198. A short right sent the champion face-planting to the canvas and stunned the partisan Curitiba crowd. The Reign of Stipe Miocic had begun.
A first defence in front of his adoring Ohio fans saw him rise from the canvas to stop Alistair Overeem for a victory that sparked wild celebrations. While his ascent to the top of the division had been spectacular in its violence, the bout that has cemented his status in the sport came in January of this year. Standing opposite the UFC backed, Cameroonian sensation Francis Ngannou, Miocic dominated his heir apparent from bell to bell with a stifling wrestling attack to leave no questions as to who was the king of the heavyweight division.
The Gameplan:
Daniel Cormier gives up a 5 inch height advantage, an 8 inch reach advantage and come the end of the early weigh ins will be a smaller man in every facet of the fighting anatomy bar leg reach. This is nothing the undersized wrestling standout by way of Oklahoma state hasn’t faced before. On paper, Cormier cannot compete with Miocic on the feet. He is to short, he doesn’t possess the innate power the more natural HW has and his footwork is one-dimensional in comparison to the speedy Miocic. His route to victory is clear and simple, tuck his chin, move forward, get a hold of the champion and drag him to the mat. Wrestling from start to finish. Miocic will have drilled for this every day since the fight was announced, one goal keep the fight standing. Stop an Olympic calibre wrestler from taking you down. Cormier has had his way with much larger men in previous contests but none have had the footwork of Miocic. Stay on the outside and punish DC with hard jabs when he pushes forward. Don’t let him get close and be constantly on the move and use the reach advantages he has.
The Prediction:
When you are a HW with NCAA D1 wrestling as Miocic is, you very rarely if ever have to worry about being on your back, Saturday night is a first for Stipe. It will be the first time in his UFC career that he will have faced a wrestler that has competed at Collegiate level let alone someone of Cormier’s standard. His accent to the top of the Heavyweight division has been in an era without Cain Velasquez, an era that consisted of aging, shop-worn strikers until the recent emergence of Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes. Daniel Cormier’s wrestling is the best we are likely to ever see at Heavyweight. The Olympian is unstoppable in his pursuit of the takedown and it’s hard to envisage Miocic being able to keep the fight where he needs to. DC joins Conor McGregor in the history books as being the only men to hold titles concurrently in the UFC.
Daniel Cormier- Unanimous decision
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