The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Cormier plans to wrestle Miocic
UFC heavyweight champ reportedly not happy with smaller octagon
Daniel Cormier isn’t concealing anything in terms of his strategy for his Aug. 15 title bout against UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic.
Cormier, a national champion and All-American in college and Olympic wrestler after that, said he plans to take full advantage of the 25-foot octagon he and Miocic will compete in for the heavyweight belt at UFC 252 in Las Vegas.
That 25-foot cage is significant because high-profile UFC bouts are usually contested in a 30-foot octagon. However, Cormier-Miocic III will be held at UFC’s apex facility in Las Vegas because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
ESPN’s MMA reporter Ariel Helwani reported Miocic and his team are not happy with the 25-foot cage. Attempts by The News-Herald for a response from Miocic’s manager Jim Walter were not successful.
So as it stands today, the bout goes on in a 25-foot space, where Cormier (22-2) said he plans to use his wrestling skills to the fullest. The thinking is with less space, Cormier will have greater success wrestling Miocic (193) rather than going toe-totoe with him with fists flying.
“That ole leg is gonna be right in front for me to grab,” said Cormier in a June 22 interview with Helwani. “If you wanna see a 25-minute standup fight, that’s not what you’re getting. I hope Stipe has his wrestling shoes because with the small cage — single leg, single leg, single leg.”
Anyone sleeping on Miocic’s wrestling abilities would be wrong. As a senior at Eastlake North in 2001, Miocic was the Division I state runner-up at 215 pounds, then spent time at Cleveland State as a wrestler.
As a UFC fighter, his wrestling skills were on display against top contender Francis Ngannou in January 2018 with six takedowns during a dominant five-round unanimous decision win. The victory gave Miocic three straight title defenses, a record for UFC heavyweights.
In the first two CormierMiocic bouts, there wasn’t much wrestling or ground work by either. In July 2018, Miocic got a quick takedown before Cormier scored a firstround knockout, and then in the rematch the fighters essentially went toe-to-toe for four rounds until Miocic dropped Cormier to win back the belt.
This time will be different, says Cormier. That’s because he said back surgery leading up to the August 2019 rematch didn’t allow him to train as a wrestler.
Cormier did score a firstround takedown of Miocic in the August bout, and held him down for the duration of it. From that point, however, the fight was a punchfest, and Miocic took advantage with a series of vicious body shots during Round 4 before dropping his opponent with lefts and rights against the cage.
The size of the cage might be a source of frustration for Miocic, but there doesn’t seem to be other options for the UFC, which held its UFC Fight Night event May 16 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. However, the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in the Sunshine State is a growing problem.
“We could fight on the beach somewhere. It’s still gonna be an official heavyweight championship fight,” said Cormier. “It’s the world we live in today. Would you rather not have fights?”
When asked about Miocic reportedly not being happy about the smaller octagon, the 41-year-old Cormier said: “It doesn’t matter because I’m going to take him down. I’m going to go wrestle him.”