The trilogy is complete, with Stipe Miocic successfully defending his UFC Heavyweight Championship over rival Daniel Cormier at UFC 252 Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The two have done battle twice before, with each man earning a knockout finish. Saturday night, they went all five rounds en route to a unanimous decision win for Miocic.
Miocic and Cormier engaged in a competitive fight worthy of a rubber match. Miocic out-struck the challenger early in round one but Cormier nearly knocked Miocic down in the closing minute. Miocic roared back strong, knocking down DC late in round two. Miocic controlled most of round three, landing the harder punches and controlling Cormier on the fence. Cormier got caught with a terrible eye poke in the closing seconds that went unnoticed by referee Marc Goddard. Round four was a good one for Cormier, despite his compromised eye, out-striking Miocic by seven. Round five was as competitive as the fourth; however, it was the champion who ended up taking home the win, with the scorecards in his favor.
HE HURT HIM! --@DC_MMA stuns Stipe as RD 1 comes to a close. #UFC252 pic.twitter.com/KmpKVzteW7
— UFC (@ufc) August 16, 2020
OOOOOH! --
— UFC (@ufc) August 16, 2020
DC survives Stipe's late RD 2 attack! #UFC252 pic.twitter.com/QFjxoWnLCH
OOOOH! --
— UFC (@ufc) August 16, 2020
EVERY PUNCH ON THE EDGE OF OUR SEATS!
TWO MORE MINUTES! #UFC252 pic.twitter.com/L7EA7tmTCF
And that is it! --
— UFC (@ufc) August 16, 2020
The third and final bout goes the distance. #UFC252 pic.twitter.com/X9LLkKyml7
Following the bout, Cormier retired from MMA, and noted that the eye poke that happened during the fight left him blind in his left eye for the time being.
You can see our full UFC 252 coverage at this link, and make sure to subscribe to our MMA channel for new interviews, news updates, prediction videos and more
