The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Miocic: ‘I will be fighting soon’
Champ won’t confirm bout with dos Santos
When the calendar flips to February, Stipe Miocic will be on a five-month break from his last bout.
Those waiting to watch the UFC heavyweight champion defend his belt for the second time won’t have to wait much longer.
“I’ll be fighting soon,” said Miocic on Jan. 26 at the 17th Cleveland Sports Awards at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel.
Miocic, an Eastlake North graduate, wouldn’t confirm reports that surfaced Jan. 24 that he will fight Junior dos Santos at UFC 211 on May 13 in Dallas, but said the bout is “looking good.”
Miocic (16-2) hasn’t fought since knocking out Alistair Overeem on Sept. 10 of last year at UFC 203 at Quicken Loans Arena.
That capped an eight-month stretch in 2016 in which Miocic fought three times. He won each bout by a first-round knockout, including a victory over Fabricio Werdum in May 2016 that won him the UFC championship belt.
Now, it appears Miocic’s layoff is coming to an end.
“It’s been nice to relax, and let my body rest. You know, I’m getting older,” said Miocic, 34. “Overall, I’m feeling better every day.”
A bout against dos Santos will allow Miocic the chance to avenge his last loss as a UFC heavyweight. In 2014, he lost a grueling, bloody five-round bout to dos Santos by decision.
Miocic said despite the loss, his performance in the dos Santos
“It’s been nice to relax, and let my body rest. You know, I’m getting older.”
— Stipe Miocic
loss “put me on the map.”
“I’m a way better fighter (right now), a much different fighter,” said Miocic. “Confidence, conditioning, skill. I’ve gotten much better since our last fight. I progress. I get better. A lot of guys stay stagnant. I don’t. I know I can still get better.”
Miocic said he’s currently working out five days a week, going at about an 80 percent. As per usual with most of his bouts, he anticipates ramping his training schedule to “fight mode” about 10 weeks out. If he’s fighting dos Santos on May 13, Miocic’s peak practice schedule will begin in early March.
A possible bout with dos Santos might be considered a bit of a surprise in one respect. Since fighting on the undercard of the Miocic-Overeem fight, Werdum has been pushing hard for a rematch with Miocic.
Werdum tweeted on Christmas Day: “I’m just saying one thing! Will happen! # 2017 @stipemiocicufc I just have one thing to say. This MUST happen!”
Miocic shrugged off Werdum’s comments, and said he has no control who he fights next. As for the Werdum comments, Miocic said his KO of the former champion May 10 should say enough.
“He was sleeping, wasn’t he?” he said. “Probably still waking up from that.
“He can say whatever he wants. He’s just trying to get a fight, and it’s part of the game. Honestly, I don’t care about the opponent. Whoever it is, I’ll take him out.”
Another hot topic in UFC circles had Miocic sounding off about the fact Overeem reportedly had a larger payday than him at UFC 203. Overeem was paid $800,000, and Miocic $600,000.
Miocic said on the MMA Hour his payday was a “slap in the face.”
“(It’s) terrible,” said Miocic. “Things definitely need to be changed. Something’s gotta change. It’s not really fair.
“I just felt like I was kinda crapped on a little bit. I try to do things right and work with them, and they just didn’t give me a great deal. That’s my own fault, but also they knew what they were doing. They took my kindness for weakness.”
Asked about his comments, Miocic said, “I plead the fifth on that.”
The focus now for Miocic is readying himself to prepare for defending his championship belt for a second time.
“I will do that,” he said. “I’m not losing this belt.”