Miocic stops Cormier, reclaims heavyweight belt at UFC 241

ANAHEIM >> Stipe Miocic waited over a year to face Daniel Cormier again, and his plan for the rematch didn’t start to work until they were deep in the fourth round.

That’s when the patient, determined firefighter from Cleveland finally got his revenge — and suddenly reclaimed his UFC heavyweight title.

Miocic stopped Cormier with a barrage of punches in the fourth, taking back his championship belt with a comeback victory at UFC 241 on Saturday night.

Miocic (19-3) lost the first two rounds on every judge’s scorecard in his rematch with the 40-year-old Cormier (22-2). After making some progress in the third, Miocic steadily came forward through Cormier’s blows in the fourth and finally hurt the champion with a punch to the body.

Miocic then landed several powerhouse right hands to Cormier’s head, buckling his knees and eventually forcing referee Herb Dean to stop the fight with 51 seconds left in the fourth round. The 6-foot-5 behemoth leaped onto the wall of the cage and celebrated with fans still stunned by the fight’s sudden turn.

“I saw some weakness in that third round,” Miocic said. “And then in that fourth round, I caught him with that right hand. Thank God, because he’s tough.”

Nate Diaz also returned from a three-year hiatus with a dominant decision victory over Anthony Pettis at Honda Center, but he was upstaged by the remarkable redemption of Miocic.

Miocic reigned as the UFC’s heavyweight champion for 26 months, and he defended his belt a UFC-record three consecutive times before Cormier dethroned him in July 2018 with a firstround stoppage victory. Despite Cormier’s decisive victory, Miocic campaigned for a rematch and eventually received it when Cormier said he “deserved it.”

“He got hit with everything but the kitchen sink, and he managed to stay in the fight,” UFC President Dana White said of Miocic.

Cormier didn’t announce his retirement in the cage afterward, but the former twobelt champion planned to think seriously about quitting MMA after this fight, no matter its outcome. The former Olympic-level wrestler had always planned to get out of the sport before he turned 40, but Cormier pushed his deadline by five months after surgery prevented him from fighting last March.