Stipe Miocic: Not just an all-time great UFC champion, but the people's champion

If there was any doubt before Saturday that Stipe Miocic will go down in mixed martial arts history as one of the all-time greats, there wasn’t by the time the weekend was over.

Miocic made his third consecutive successful defence of the UFC heavyweight title, setting a divisional record, when he defeated Francis Ngannou via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 220 in Boston, Mass.

Ngannou had soared to number one contendership status with ten wins on the bounce, all inside the distance. His freakish striking power led to some highlight reel KOs and a huge following.

He was a fascinating and very worthy challenger for Miocic. However the champion was the favourite going in and he was for a reason.

Stipe took all three judges’ scorecards 50-44 against an opponent who had proven he was just one clean shot from victory at all times. He did so with his superior grappling and one hell of a chin.

“It was the Stipe show,” Miocic said in his post-fight press conference. “It wasn’t about him. It was about me. I’m the champ. I broke the record. I’m the best.”

In his five previous fights, Miocic won by knockout or technical knockout, and four of those bouts ended in the first round. It was the first time Miocic went five rounds in a title fight, and only the third time in his career that he had gone past the fourth.

Miocic last went the distance against Junior dos Santos on December 13, 2014. Ngannou had never been out of the second round in his MMA career.

Miocic won the bout against Ngannou, 50-44, on all three of the judges’ scorecards.

Including the win over Ngannou, Miocic has now won six straight fights, improved to 18-2 in his professional career, and is 12-2 in 14 bouts under the UFC banner.

“I’m not the scariest, but I’m the baddest man in the world,” Miocic said in the cage after the fight.

And at the official UFC 220 post-event press conference, the American of Croatian descent was adamant that he has earned the mantle of MMA’s greatest ever heavyweight.

“No one’s ever defended it three times,” Miocic explained. “I had the killers’ row of fighters to get to it.

“I had a hard path to get to the title, and I’ve had a hard path to defend the title. Top dudes.

“I had to fight (Andrei) Arlovski. Then, I had to fight (Fabricio) Werdum in Brazil with 45,000 people. Crazy.

“Next guy, (Alistair) Overeem, a killer, K-1 champ, hits like a ton of bricks. Next guy, JDS, who I lost to. I’ve got a guy that’s a phenom next. Nothing’s ever easy.

“I know fighting ain’t easy, but I never had an easy road. I think it was hard. That’s why I love being from Cleveland because nothing’s ever given. It’s earned.”

Adding to Miocic’s likeability in the eyes of the general public is his passive-aggressive actions towards UFC head honcho Dana White after the victory.

Traditionally, White straps the title belt around every champion after their win. It’s up there with Eddie Hearn’s uncanny ability to be in every interview and camera shot at Matchroom boxing events, no matter how few people actually want him on their screens.

Miocic actually took the belt away from Dana and handed it to his coach Marcus Marinelli to do the honours instead.

It has been reported that the heavyweight champion has felt slighted by the company in the past, between contract negotiation frustrations and a very clear emphasis on Ngannou in the company’s promotion of the contest despite Stipe having done everything required of him, and then some.
When asked why he did this, Miocic simply stated: “He respects me and I respect him.”

A follow-up as to whether that meant he felt White did not respect him was met with the following response: “I don’t know. And I don’t really care.”

Promoters do have a tendency to play favourites. The history of combat sports proves that marketability is as important to them as a great win-loss record.

But on Saturday, Miocic showed once again why he won’t be denied superstardom. And his stance against the system will only establish him further as the people’s champion, in addition to being one of the finest actual champions in UFC history.