Stipe Miocic knows the significance of his first fight with Junior dos Santos.
Going into the bout, Miocic was riding a three-fight winning streak. He battled dos Santos in a UFC on FOX main event back in Dec. 2014. The bout was close, but “Cigano” took a unanimous decision win. Despite falling short, Miocic was praised by fans and analysts for the performance.
Fast forward to 2017 and Miocic is the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title holder with one successful title defense. During a UFC 211 media call, Miocic said his match-up with dos Santos proved to everyone that he belonged (via MMAFighting.com):
“The lesson I learned, not even really a lesson as much as, just knowing that I belong. I belong, that I can hang anyone. I went five rounds with a former champ, a guy who has been a knockout artist and I went five rounds with him, I know I belong. I know that I’m not going anywhere, and look at where I’m at now.”
Miocic feels he’ll be better prepared for the rematch and it will result in a knockout win.
“We both know that someone’s getting KO’d. I’m walking out with the belt still, so, it’s going to happen. I’m not going to predict what round, but I’m walking out with the belt.”
Miocic vs. dos Santos 2 will headline UFC 211 on May 13.
