The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Heavyweight champ is taking it to the limit
Miocic paying the price in preparations for his UFC title defense May 13 in Dallas
“It’s terrible.” “I like nothing about it.” “The grind sucks.” “If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.”
That’s Stipe Miocic on his training regimen leading up to his second title defense of his UFC heavyweight belt vs. Junior dos Santos on May 13 in Dallas.
Without it, the North graduate knows he likely wouldn’t hold the title every UFC heavyweight covets — “The Baddest Man on the Planet.”
That’s the price he pays almost every day leading up to a UFC fight.
Miocic knows taking himself to the brink of exhaustion under the tutelage of his coach Marcus Marinelli and staff is key to staying on top.
The blood and sweat are left at Marinelli’s gym in Valley View, Strong Style. In the front of the gym adorns a huge horizontal picture of Miocic with a sign that reads “UFC Heavyweight Champion of the World.”
Inside the gym, at the back corner, it might as well be called Stipe’s sanctum.
It’s not exactly a private place, as it’s not uncommon for UFC cameramen and fans to be on hand for workouts.
“Stipe’s got to keep moving, keep working the angles. Especially in the heavyweight division. If you just stand there you will get caught by surprise. So action is faster than reaction. ” — Marcus Marinelli, coach for Stipe Miocic
Plus, Miocic has a large coaching staff, and when the champ is sparring, there’s a number of area fighters going in and out of the octagon toughening him up.
On March 30, at about 8:30 p.m., Miocic grinded his way through a fiveround sparring session — five-minute rounds, with one-minute breaks between each. The sparring partners ranged from boxers to kick boxers.
“That was five tough rounds for him,” said Alex Cooper, a Mentor High graduate who’s one of Miocic’s boxing coaches.
Miocic is always moving in the ring, which means there’s no shortcuts to finishing the grueling 25-minute bout. That’s how Marinelli likes it.
“Stipe’s got to keep moving, keep working the angles,” said Marinelli. “Especially in the heavyweight division. If you just stand there you will get caught by surprise. So action is faster than reaction. You won’t react to everything, so the more you’re moving, the harder it is to get hit.
“When you’re moving a lot, it kind of turns your eyes on and turns your mind on. It kind of kicks everything into gear. We stress his movement all the time.”
That movement also causes exhaustion. After his five rounds March 30, Miocic sat in his corner for a few minutes, then laid sprawled like an eagle in the center of the octagon resting
for at least five minutes. “This was tough,” said Miocic of his five rounds.
Marinelli noticed, saying, “Stipe fought some really tough guys today. He regrouped after the third round, and had a really good fourth round. Then he really fought his way through the fifth.
“That’s the goal, to make it hard. If he can do this sixand-a-half weeks out, we’re in good shape.”
At 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, Miocic carries little to no excess weight. He’s built like a lumberjack, and it’s unlikely lumberjacks count calories after chopping wood. Neither does Miocic, but that’s offset by adhering to a healthy diet plan.
On March 29, Miocic went five rounds with a sparring partner who specializes in wrestling.
“It’s hard,” said Marinelli, who said the champ goes about 25 to 30 rounds a week. “We’re throwing fresh guys at him every round.”
Training isn’t limited to sparring. Conditioning includes pad work drills, plus others. But perhaps the most difficult and grueling is straight out of a Rocky movie.
Marinelli came up with the idea for Miocic to push a wheelbarrow in the parking lot of Strong Style with one special feature that might make most might pass out after a few steps. Included in the wheelbarrow is half of Miocic’s weight — 120 pounds. That work is completed on most Saturdays, including April 1.
The drill was especially difficult last summer for Miocic training for Alistair Overeem, whom Miocic knocked out in one round. There were many days in which temperatures reached in the high 90s.
“It was rough,” said Marinelli, recalling back to last summer. “But he never quit. And that’s the key. At some point, you’re going to get two (fighters in the octagon) that are fairly equal, and at this level, everyone’s good. What can be the determine factor?
“Maybe it’s not technique. Maybe it’s here,” said Marinelli, pointing to his heart, “and the conditioning they put in. We may have to depend on that at some point.”
Case in point Miocic’s last loss as a UFC heavyweight. That occurred in 2014 against dos Santos in a
grueling, bloody five-round decision.
Marinelli had a ringside view of that back-and-forth bout that some believe Miocic won. Miocic said despite the loss, it was a “comingof-age” bout for him. Marinelli agrees, but the drive continues.
“You always have to think we’re fighting for the hardest war against the toughest guy you’ll ever run into,” said Marinelli. “That’s what we train for every night.”
The dos Santos game plan will eventually include video analysis. But that won’t begin until five weeks out, said Marinelli.
The reason isn’t complicated.
“We can scout all we want, but if (Miocic) isn’t where he needs to be, what good is the scouting report?” said Marinelli.
So, for the next weekand-a-half, it’s back to the grind for Miocic, who training regimen breaks down like this:
• Two workouts on Monday • Two on Tuesday • One on Wednesday • Two on Friday • Off on Friday • “A really long, hard day on Saturday,” said Miocic
• And finally an off day on Sunday
Multiple workout days consist of one in the morning, and one at night.
On March 30, Miocic said he’s hitting a bit of a mental wall.
“My body’s tired,” he said.
Miocic is determined to fight through that.
“Six weeks,” he said. “It’s all good.”
The grind won’t stop until May 13 in Dallas.