Cormier, Miocic keep UFC belts

Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou had a violent history of first-round finishes.

By the time their heavyweight bout reached the fifth round, Miocic and Ngannou huffed, puffed and trudged around the cage without a knockout in sight. Miocic set the UFC heavyweight record with his third straight successful title defense, turning the anticipated slugfest against Ngannou into a methodical and masterful ground-and-pound bout to win the main event of UFC 220 at TD Garden.

Miocic won 50-44 on all three scorecards early Sunday and was never seriously tested by the raw and unrefined Ngannou.

Miocic (18-2) and Ngannou (11-2) had UFC fans buzzing with perhaps the most-hyped heavyweight title bout since Brock Lesnar was the class of the division. Both fighters built their reputations on the strength of nasty knockouts, and Ngannou was coming off a GIF-worthy KO just seven weeks ago.

Both fighters were winded by the third round and Ngannou looked sleepy as he whiffed on a few blows in the fifth.

In the first round, the fight seemed like it could reach epic slugfest proportions. Miocic and Ngannou tagged each other several times, leaving each fighter staggered and seemingly on the brink of trouble.

“He’s a tough dude. Caught me in the first round but I took control,” Miocic said.

The fight never really picked up from there. Miocic spent the rest of the fight just banging away as Ngannou mostly covered up, hoping for one last desperate knockout punch.

Ngannou, a Cameroon native who this week criticized President Donald Trump for his profane description of African countries, never found that reserve power.

“I think I underestimated (him) a little bit,” said Ngannou, whose rise from homeless to heavyweight contender captivated a sport eager for a new star.

CORMIER DEFENDS. Daniel Cormier locked a choke hold on Volkan Oezdemir with such force that the crowd exploded when the horn sounded to end the first round, thinking the fight was over. Not yet. Oezdemir was saved from submission briefly. But the inevitable defeat was just moments away.

With a Boston crowd roaring and chanting his initials, Cormier showed why he’s the best active light heavyweight fighter in UFC and dominated Oezdemir via TKO to retain the 205-pound belt. /