Miocic avenges loss to Dos Santos
Heavyweight champ pounces on his foe in UFC 211 bout that is stopped in first round.
Stipe Miocic didn’t hesitate to let his fists fly Saturday night, gaining revenge for his most recent loss and moving within another victory of becoming the longest-reigning UFC heavyweight champion.
Ohio’s Miocic (17-2) found former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos with right-handed punches in the early going, brushing off leg kicks, then dropping his foe with a hammering right in the main event of UFC 211 in Dallas.
With Dos Santos on the mat, Miocic pounced and struck with a flurry of short lefts to the face to cause referee Herb Dean to stop the bout at 2 minutes 22 seconds of the first round.
“It didn’t go long,” Miocic said in the octagon when asked about his shin pain from Dos Santos’ kicks. “I am the best in the world.”
Miocic avenged his 2014 loss by decision to Dos Santos with astute counterpunches and an attacking style.
Either former champion Cain Velasquez or the winner of July 8’s Alistair Overeem-Fabricio Werdum bout will be the final obstacle keeping Miocic from becoming the first UFC heavyweight champion to successfully defend the belt three times.
In the co-main event, Poland’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (14-0) tied Ronda Rousey with her sixth women’s title victory, out-landing a game Jessica Andrade by more than a 3-1 ratio.
Judges scored the bout 5045, 50-44, 50-45 for Jedrzejczyk.
“No one is taking this belt from me. No one,” Jedrzejczyk said. “Jessica was such a tough opponent. I was super tired at the end … [but] we’re making history.”
Third-ranked Andrade (16-6) snapped a scoring combination on Jedrzejczyk’s face in the first round, and took her to the canvas before Jedrzejczyk rose and landed jabs and a kick to the head.
Aided by a 31⁄2-inch reach advantage, Jedrzejczyk continued popping jabs and belted Andrade with a right hand in the second to seize control. The lead widened in the fourth as Jedrzejczyk peppered Andrade with punches and kicks, leaving the challenger cut under the right eye. Andrade absorbed more than a dozen power shots in the fifth, leaving the bout with-dignity.
Former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar defeated No. 7-rated featherweight Yair Rodriguez to regain traction toward another title shot.
Edgar quickly landed punches on the contender from Mexico and then pummeled him with blows to the head while Rodriguez had his back on the canvas.
A ringside doctor stopped the fight after two rounds, leaving Edgar in prime position to meet the winner of June 3’s UFC 212 main event between featherweight champion Jose Aldo and challenger Max Holloway of Hawaii.
In a welterweight bout, veteran Demian Maia claimed a split-decision victory over Jorge Masvidal.
Maia went to UFC President Dana White afterward and said that after seven consecutive victories, he deserves a title shot at champion Tyron Woodley, and White told him, “You got it.”
Masvidal whipped kicks in the second round, but in the third Maia landed the more effective blows that helped him claim the 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 nod on scorecards.