UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic proved himself to be the baddest man on the planet again, scoring a quick, violent first-round knockout of Junior dos Santos on Saturday night at UFC 211.
DALLAS — UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic produced a quick, violent first-round knockout over Junior dos Santos on Saturday inside American Airlines Center. Then he wished all the moms out there a happy Mother’s Day.
Miocic (17-2) proved himself to be the baddest man on the planet again at UFC 211, rocking dos Santos with a right hand before finishing him off just 2: 22 into their heavyweight title fight.
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Prior to UFC 211’s main event between Stipe Miocic and Junior dos Santos, a multitude of undercard fights had major implications. Here’s how it went down.
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At UFC 211, Stipe Miocic avenges his last loss and becomes the sixth UFC heavyweight to make back-to-back successful title defenses.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk recorded her fifth UFC title defense Saturday, cruising to a unanimous-decision win over the heavy-hitting Jessica Andrade in their strawweight co-main event at UFC 211.
Prior to UFC 211’s main event between Stipe Miocic and Junior dos Santos, a multitude of undercard fights had major implications. Here’s how it went down.
The victory marks Miocic’s second title defense, which moves him into a tie for the most consecutive heavyweight title defenses in UFC history. Randy Couture, Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez are the other UFC heavyweights who pulled the feat.
«We worked on that for 10 weeks, » said Miocic, referring to the crushing right hand that put dos Santos away.
Fighting out of Independence, Ohio, Miocic afterward joked with UFC commentator Joe Rogan that his next stop would be in his kitchen. The outgoing but short-worded champion then thanked the city of Dallas and gave a shout-out to all the mothers in the world.
Saturday’s fight was a stark difference from a previous meeting between Miocic and dos Santos. In 2014, dos Santos won a hard-fought five-round decision over Miocic in Phoenix. Since that loss, Miocic is 5-0 with five knockouts.
Miocic said he has improved in all facets as a fighter since that first meeting with dos Santos.
«Everything just got a lot better as a fighter, » Miocic said. «My confidence, cardio, technique — everything got better. Thanks to him. He’s an amazing competitor and amazing person.
«I did a lot of things wrong [in that first fight] . Rookie mistakes. I definitely didn’t do that this time.»
Miocic’s game plan was very clear from the beginning. He crowded dos Santos with jabs and right hands, constantly cutting off the cage and putting dos Santos against the fence. Dos Santos tried to answer with counter left hands — a punch that knocked Miocic down in 2014 — but was unsuccessful Saturday night.
A step-in right hand sent dos Santos into a face-plant along the fence. Referee Herb Dean gave him an opportunity to recover, but he could only put his hands defensively over his head. Miocic crouched and threw left hands until Dean stepped in to stop the fight.
«He looks amazing, » UFC president Dana White said of Miocic. «The guy looks better every time he comes out. I thought [dos Santos] looked amazing this week — crisp, sharp punches. He looked fast, and Stipe made that look easy.»
Dos Santos was knocked out for the third time in his professional career; Saturday’s fight marked the quickest anyone has ever knocked him out.
Miocic’s next challenger is unclear. Former champion Fabricio Werdum (21-6-1) , whom Miocic took the title from last year, could be in line for a rematch if he’s able to defeat Alistair Overeem at UFC 213 in July.
