CLEVELAND — “What’s next?”
It is the question most commonly asked of fighters following a victory, either inside the boxing ring or mixed martial arts cage, and Cleveland native Stipe Miocic does not yet have an answer for who next will challenge for the UFC heavyweight championship.
But the Eastlake North High School graduate is not losing any sleep over potential challenges.
“Whoever they want me to fight, I don’t really care,” Miocic said after receiving the Professional Athlete of the Year Award at the 20th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel Wednesday night. “I’ll put a clinic on (Francis) Ngannou again. It doesn’t matter to me.”
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For much of the final quarter of 2018 and early months of 2019, Miocic looked like he might not get a desired rematch with Daniel Cormier for the UFC heavyweight championship, but when other plans fell through, that is exactly what he got.
Despite a slow start to the rematch after a 13-month hiatus from UFC competition, Miocic made good on his opportunity and avenged only the third loss of his professional career with the technical knockout win over Cormier.
After struggling to find his range in the first three rounds, Miocic picked his spots during the fourth frame and was sticking and moving, engaging with punches, including several left hooks to Cormier’s ribs, and getting out of the pocket before the defending champion could respond.
Then, after a lead left hook to the body late in the fourth round, Miocic landed a straight right hand to Cormier’s chin. That wobbled Cormier and Miocic moved in for the finish. Miocic landed three right hands before connecting on three short lefts while putting Cormier against the cage.
As Cormier slumped to the canvas, Miocic alternated right and left-handed punches and forced the referee’s stoppage with 52 seconds remaining in the fourth round.
All of that happened after Miocic suffered a torn retina on an eye poke early in the fight that went undetected by the official. Since winning back the UFC title, Miocic has been recovering from surgery to repair the damage suffered in the fight.
“Better, a lot better,” Miocic said. “It’s healed up. I’m taking my time with it because I’m 37, so I don’t want to injure it again. I want to be able to see out of both eyes when I get older, so that’s all I really care about right now. I love fighting, but my health’s more important.”
It was the first time that Cormier was knocked out in a heavyweight fight, and Miocic’s comeback victory earned him a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus.
The record-holder for the most consecutive successful defenses of the UFC heavyweight championship, Miocic improved to 19-3-0 in his professional career with the victory over Cormier, including a 13-3 mark since joining the UFC in 2011.
“It took a while to heal up,” Miocic told 3News personalities Dave “Dino” DeNatale and Nick Camino backstage after winning the award. “I still have spots in my eye. I’m starting to get back into the gym slowly, but I just want to see how it feels. I love fighting, but at the same time, I also want to be able to see out of both of my eyes when my daughter gets older.
“I’m not saying anything. I’m just saying I want to make sure I’m healed and ready to go. Once I’m healed, then I’ll be going. I don’t want to start too soon and have to start all over again. I’m 37. I’m not 28 again.”