Stipe Miocic regained the UFC heavyweight title with a rousing performance over Daniel Cormier in the main event of UFC 241.
Miocic rebounded from a knockout loss in his first fight with Cormier, and also from a deficit on the scorecards in the second fight. The Cleveland, Ohio-based firefighter made a pivotal adjustment in the fourth round, however. He began digging to Cormier’s midsection, opening up a path to a finish with a flurry of strikes. The bout left “DC’s” fighting status up in the air. Many believed he may retire, yet he ultimately left the door open for a potential return to MMA.
Cormier’s longtime teammate Cain Velasquez believes he would return for a trilogy fight with Miocic. But a man who has quite a history with Velasquez and Miocic believes there’s no need. Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos recently spoke up about the potential trilogy in an interview with MMA Fighting from his native Brazil. He offered his stance that a third fight between Miocic and Cormier simply doesn’t make sense (transcribed by BJPenn.com):
“I think this trilogy doesn’t make any sense,” dos Santos said. “Miocic proved he’s the champion. That’s what I mean, this is the most dangerous division in any sport. Once you connect the punch, your opponent is probably gonna go down. And that’s what happened in their first fight. Cormier connected a good punch, Miocic felt the punch.’
A Lucky Punch?
Dos Santos then compared the result of their first fight to his recent loss to surging contender Francis Ngannou. He even went as far as to call Cormier’s win “lucky”:
“It was the same moment that I’m trying to explain for you what happened with me and Ngannou. It was a lucky moment. Not taking anything away from ‘DC’ again. But it was a lucky moment.”
‘Cigano’ also heaped praise upon his two-time rival Miocic. The Brazilian vet said he was a fan of the champ before. But after he made the adjustments he did at UFC 241, dos Santos’ respect for Miocic skyrocketed even higher.
Miocic is the clear champ, dos Santos insisted. That’s why a trilogy with Cormier doesn’t make sense right now:
“Now Miocic went there. He suffered, he survived for the first [three] rounds and came back and he pulls himself [up] and got the victory. Man, that was a brilliant performance. I was a fan of Miocic before and now I’m more a fan of him as a fighter and as a person too. He’s a great guy. But he deserves to be the champion. He deserves to be the baddest man on the planet right now, so it doesn’t make any sense to have this rematch with ‘DC.’”
