CLEVELAND -- Mixed martial artists routinely relocate themselves, and sometimes, their families when going through a training camp ahead of a fight, but that is not how UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic has chosen to handle his business.
Miocic remains loyal to the same gym that he started with, Strong Style MMA in Independence, because of the people, including his head coach, Marcus Marinelli, striking coach, Alex Cooper, as well as his grappling/jiu-jitsu coaches, Pablo Castro and Steve Kinas, and strength-and-conditioning coach Bob Kaleal.
“It’s a Cleveland thing. People don’t understand that if they’re not from Cleveland, but this gym is amazing,” Miocic said.
“It’s not just about the fighters. It’s about the whole gym itself. From the fitness side to the MMA side, we have each other’s backs no matter what. We’re always here to help each other out, and that’s what I love about this gym. I could be 0-100, and I still wouldn’t leave.”
The track record speaks for itself when it comes to the partnership between Miocic and Strong Style.
A Euclid native and graduate of Eastlake North High School, Miocic will go for a UFC record third consecutive defense of the heavyweight championship against Francis Ngannou in the main event of UFC 220 at TD Garden in Boston on January 20.
Miocic tied the record when he avenged one of his two professional losses with a knockout of Junior dos Santos at the 2:24 mark of the first round in the main event of UFC 211: Miocic vs. Dos Santos 2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas last May.
Miocic finished off his fifth straight knockout victory by backing up dos Santos against the cage and flooring him with a right hand to the head.
After dos Santos fell to the canvas, Miocic swarmed the former champion and threw more than a dozen left-handed punches through the guard, and when those strikes went unanswered, referee Herb Dean called a stop to the bout.
Ironically enough, his last loss, a unanimous decision setback on December 13, 2014, put Miocic on a path to five straight knockout victories. Including the redemption win over dos Santos, Miocic has finished off 14 opponents, all by knockout or TKO.
“Marcus, he’s like my best friend. He is my best friend, and we just work well together,” Miocic said of Marinelli. “All of the coaches who have come in, we all work well together. No one tries to step on anyone’s toes. We all work well, man. That’s what a family does. We listen to each other, and we take it day by day and the task at hand.”
With the win over dos Santos, Miocic improved to 17-2 in his professional career, and 11-2 in his 13 bouts under the UFC banner, and he is focused on representing Strong Style the only way he knows how, by putting another mark in the win column against Ngannou in Boston.
“Everyone loves him, is giving all this hype about him, which is fine,” Miocic said. “Another hype train for me to derail, another train for me to derail. I’m used to it by now. He’s a super-tough guy, like I said, but nothing I haven’t before. He hits hard, just like every heavyweight does, so I’m just going to be out there to do my game, be smart, and I’m just excited to fight, finally.”
