With Daniel Cormier standing so close to the edge of retirement, Stipe Miocic felt he might have slight mental edge going into last night's main event at UFC 241. In the end, both Miocic and the incumbent Heavyweight Champion looked to be completely "locked-in" for the moment in hand.
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Unfortunately for Cormier, after undergoing a back-and-forth barrage for three rounds, Miocic caught his opponent square on the chin in the 4th, leaving him in a vulnerable position on the canvas. It was at this point that referee Herb Dean deemed it necessary to stop the contest dead in its tracks, thereby handing Miocic a long-sought-after W over the man that stole away with his title at UFC 226.
"I felt like that hook to the body was hurting him," Miocic said after the fight. "His hands were dropping, so I came over the top more. My coach told me to use that right hand. I knew I was hurting him. I just had to keep working, keep working until something opened up."
When asked to comment on what went wrong for him, Cormier deferred to his opponent's "adjustments" making all the difference in the world. What Cormier does next, given his age and stature within the sport, is up to him to decide. For what it's worth the general public would be happy to see him prolong his career inside the octagon, so long as his body is up to the task. Major kudos go to Miocic; he really proved his mettle to the casual fan and went long ways towards cementing his legacy by evening the score. The Heavyweight title is now arguably where it belongs - with Francis Ngannou waiting in the wings as Miocic's next challenger for the 2nd time in his career.
