Miocic decks santos in UFC
Stipe Miocic celebrates his knockout win against Junior Dos Santos in their heavyweight title bout during UFC 211 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. AFP
MANILA, Philippines - Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic exacted revenge on Junior dos Santos, putting the former titleholder away in the first round to win their UFC 211 heavyweight clash in Dallas, Texas Saturday.
Miocic, who lost to dos Santos via decision in their last clash in Dec. 2014, stalked the Brazilian in their rematch at American Airlines Center. Dos Santos saw success with leg kicks, but the fight didn’t last long enough for them to add up. Miocic pressed forward and dos Santos put his back against the cage like he’s been known to do. It was his undoing.
Miocic stepped in with a right hand midway through the opening round that face planted dos Santos. He followed up with a series of left hands delivered in rapid succession forcing referee Herb Dean to intervene and stop the fight.
“It was terrible. It hurt. The one time I check it, it hurt his foot the one time I checked it,” said Miocic about dos Santos’ leg kicks.
“We’ve been working that for 10 weeks,” he said about the right hand that ended the fight. “My coach is the best in the world. That’s the reason that I’m the champion.”
The record for the most times any heavyweight champion had successfully defended the title is two. Andrei Arlovski and Cain Velasquez all defended their titles twice. Miocic has now added his name to that list.
Miocic declined to call out a next opponent. He said that he doesn’t care who he fights next. Whoever the UFC decides to put in front of him, he’s fine with accepting the challenge.
Miocic also banked a Performance of the Night bonus for his efforts. – MMAWeekly
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