imago images / ZUMA Press
The second encounter: Daniel Cormier (above) against Stipe Miocic (below) in the 2019 fight
The two heavyweights Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic have already met twice. Both emerged once as winners, and thus as world heavyweight champions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The third fight between challenger Cormier (record: 22 wins, two defeats) and champion Miocic (19, three), which will take place next Saturday in Las Vegas, should provide information on who will be crowned the best heavyweight of all time in mixed martial arts (MMA ), the martial art in which punching and kicking techniques of different styles are mixed.
For Daniel Cormier in particular, the third duel with Miocic will be a special one anyway: The 41-year-old American had already announced in advance that he would end his career after this fight. It has now been almost exactly a year since Cormier lost the world title to Miocic. “I didn’t feel like myself then,” Cormier said a few days ago in his own podcast ESPNthat he runs with the journalist Ariel Helwani. In his own estimation, he was not focused enough in the preparation at the time.
Not surprising, since Cormier had already started his media career at this point: In addition to the podcast, he mainly works as a commentator for the UFC. Cormier wants to pursue this job after the upcoming end of his career as an active fighter and take more care of his family; his wife is expecting their third child together in October.
MMA expert Ian Parker sees things differently: “If Cormier wins, it won’t be his last fight,” he said on the Anik-and-Florian podcast this week. According to Parker, a fight with Jon Jones would be waiting for him. Just because of the potentially exorbitant fee, he couldn’t refuse, says Parker.
But before these questions arise, Cormier must first beat Stipe Miocic – and that will be difficult enough. While Cormier kills his rival in the first fight in the first round. o. beat, and thus made himself the world heavyweight and light heavyweight champion, he was again sent to the boards by Miocic in the second meeting.
Miocic, a 37-year-old American with Croatian roots, is considered the better boxer of the two. Nobody has so far managed to defend the heavyweight title more often. In addition to his work as a professional MMA fighter, Miocic continues to work as a firefighter in his home in Cleveland, Ohio. “I love this job,” he emphasized last in an interview ESPN.
As a slight favorite for the third fight between the two is Cormier. He is generally credited with having better all-round skills. Prior to his career in MMA, Cormier competed in freestyle wrestling in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. He is therefore convinced that he is »simply the better fighter«. In addition, the duel takes place in a smaller cage than usual, which naturally prefers the athlete with the better skills as a wrestler. “A bigger cage would of course be better,” Miocic said in an interview with ESPN. “It is like it is. I will certainly not complain about it. I wanted a bigger cage, but what can you do? I’m not worried about it. “
