The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Miocic-Cormier rematch set for August
Arguably the biggest heavyweight title fight in the history of UFC is set for Aug. 15 in an unannounced location.
Arguably the biggest heavyweight title fight in the history of the UFC is set.
June 8, the UFC announced champion Stipe Miocic will defend his title against No. 1 contender Daniel Cormier on Aug. 15 in a trilogy fight that will decide once and for all ultimate bragging rights, and a whole lot more.
That’s because in July 2018, Cormier ended Miocic’s reign as champion with a first-round knockout to earn the title “The Baddest Man on The Planet” — a moniker that goes to the UFC heavyweight champion.
Thirteen months later, the North graduate got revenge against Cormier
in Anaheim, Calif., and won the belt back with his own knockout — this time in the fourth round.
Now the stage is set to break the tie.
UFC president Dana White said he’s still working on where the much-anticipated bout will take place.
“I don’t have a location yet, but the trilogy with those two great heavyweights will happen this summer,” White said at ESPN.com.
Cormier, who’s been pushing for a rematch since getting KO’d by Miocic last August, was one excited fighter via Twitter after the announcement.
“This one is for all the marbles,” wrote Cormier. “1-1, both knockouts but great fights, I can’t wait to fight this dude again!! Now it’s time to work as hard as I ever trained.”
For Miocic, it’s a chance to quiet the naysayers, even though he’s the only heavyweight in the history of the UFC to defend the belt three straight times and already mentioned by many observers as the greatest heavyweight.
For Cormier, it’s a chance to claim two out of three vs. Miocic and stake his claim as the greatest double-division champ in UFC history and the greatest heavyweight of this era. Cormier, 41, was also the light heavyweight champ before moving up a division to fight Miocic.
To say it’s all on the line in this one is an understatement. Each fighter has established himself as an alltime great.
In UFC.com’s pound-forpound rankings, Miocic (19-3) is third behind No. 1 Jon Jones and No. 2 Khabib Nurmagamedov, while Cormier (22-2) is No. 5.
Miocic teased the June 9 announcement June 7 with a tweet that read, “The time has come. Who’s ready?” Cormier then replied to Miocic’s tweet with the message, “You’re done!”
The third fight between the two will mark almost a year since their second fight. On Aug. 17, 2019, Miocic used a series of vicious body shots in the fourth round and wore down Cormier until he floored him with a series of rights and lefts. In a blink, the heavyweight belt changed hands, and now the rubber match is a few months away.
Two factors stalled Cormie-Miocic III from happening sooner than later.
First was when Miocic suffered a torn retina in the fight with Cormier last August. It had to be surgically repaired.
Second was the novel coronavirus pandemic, which forced Miocic’s Valley View
gym, Strong Style, to close. Gyms recently reopened, and Miocic confirmed to The News-Herald he’s recently returned there for training.
Miocic, who turns 38 on Aug. 19, told ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto in early May he needed “a full camp” to be ready to fight Cormier, and added, “It’s not going to be August, I can tell you that.”
Those plans have apparently been altered with the announcement of Aug. 15.
Now the stage is set for the defining fight of Miocic’s career.