This is the UFC on FOX 13 live blog for Junior dos Santos vs. Stipe Miocic, a heavyweight bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix on Saturday night
dos Santos, who has won three of his past five fights, will face Miocic, who has won four of his past five fights, in the main event.
Check out the UFC on FOX 13 live blog below.
More Coverage: UFC on FOX 13 Results | UFC news
Download MMA Fighting iPhone App
Round 1:The third man in the Octagon for this heavyweight title eliminator is Herb Dean. Pretty good stare-down between the two. Dos Santos quick toe the center, upright as ever. Right hand comes in off the top, and brushes Miocic back. Nevertheless, Miocic goes low and posts JDS on fence in the clinch. From that same position, right before they break, JDS lands a parting knee. Body punch from Dos Santos. Miocic again ducks low and tackles JDS on the fence, and as Dos Santos gets back up Miocic landed a couple of flush shots that stung. JDS looked a little hurt. But they are back to center, and Miocic leads with a jab before lunging in at JDS’s waist for takedown. Can’t get it. Left hook by Dos Santos lands. The boxer Miocic follows up with a solid one-two! As Dos Santos comes in up high, Miocic lands a big shot. Now they are swinging; JDS is in the pocket landing some shots too, one that rocked Miocic back a bit. Wow. Even fight so far. JDS comes in with jab, then throws huge right, which Miocic eats. Now he times out an uppercut that lands. Micici still pursuing, and he lands a big right hand coming forward, and follows that up with a couple of the fence. Both guys getting off big shots and landing; both taking those punches. Round comes to close with JDS landing a series of lefts, and eating a knee in between. MMA FIghting scores R1 10-9 for Miocic.
Round 2: After that first round, we’ll see how they come out here. Good exchange, and Miocic lands over the top a couple of nice long punches, right before shooting in for a takedown. Can’t get it, and now JDS rolls him around and takes a turn working the body in close. They break, and out to center we go. Left hook from JDS gets through, and then a right hand. Miocic is completely nonplussed by the sallies; he’s standing in and dictating the tempo. Some blood now coming out of JDS’s right eye. Big overhand right from JDS fans, and right before that he took a couple of nasty shots. Back to the fence, with JDS’s face a mess. Grueling moment here, as they toil. Now they separate just enough to swing in the wheelhouse momentarily, and Miocic might have won that exchange. As they break, JDS wings a series of punches on fence and lands a couple of good ones. They go to center, and JDS wit ha body shot — now he goes low with a combination. Big right hand from JDS after deking low. Miocic starting to huff a bit here. Right as I say that he slams a right hand home on JDS, and back to the fence they roll. Some blood on the top of Miocic’s head, which might be JDS’s . Finally JDS scores a takedown with 20 seconds left, and he’s laying lumber. JDS able to stand, but Miocic is landing the more severe strikes. MMA Fighting scores R2 dor Miocic, 10-9 (20-18 overall)
Round 3: They touch them up. Dos Santos’ face is a mess. Miocic is sweaty, but otherwise near mint. He moves in for a takedown, but JDS thwarts. Again, he grabs a single-leg and spins Dos Santos down, but Dos Santos reverses and for a brief moment took the Ohioan’s back. Left hand from Miocic as they stand, and Miocic blasts into Miocic on fence. Long exchange there from range, with both guys touching the other from that distance. Enormous uppercut from JDS just misses. Wow! That was close to closing some curtains. Even battered, JDS still has the power to end this thing in a split second. Right hand from Miocic lands. Now JDS lands a big left hand and that drops Miocic to the ground! Wow! Here comes Dos Santos, trying to end this thing as Miocic clings to his leg, but now Miocic gets back up. They circle. Whoa. Danger everywhere. They return to center. Now Miocic has blood gushing from his face, too. What a change of events. Big body shot counter from Miocic, who ducked out of the way from a right hand. Overhand right lands for JDS. They are both exhausted, and winging bombs anyway, plenty of them landing. What a fight. Miocic comes forward again. This is a JDS round, as he lands a body shot and then a right hand. He goes into his motion and tries one more overhand right that grazes Miocic as the round ends. MMA Fighting scores R3 for Dos Santos, 10-9 (29-28 for Miocic overall)
Round 4: Deep rounds now, and JDS takes a kick to the groin. Ouch. Referee stops the action for a moment to let him recover. He’s back. A couple of left jabs as misses with a waving punch, and Stipe tries for the takedown. Can’t get it. JDS tags Miocic on the brow with a jab, and then gets out of the way from a flurry as Miocic moves in. JDS really wants to land that death knell; he’s winding up and throwing, telegraphed or not, trying to put Miocic out. So far he’s missing on the biggest shots. Miocic slams a left home and they go to fence. Dirty boxing, and clinch, both landing in the telephone booth. Uppercut on the break by JDS misses. Miocic coming in again, and landing as he moves forward. Both men are bloodied and purpleed. Now Miocic lands a series of big shots, started by a huge left. Those were big thudding shots he landed on Dos Santos. Both are exhausted. Overhand right from Miocic crashes into JDS’s temple, and they move to fence—and boom, JDS takes Miocic down! Now he’s landing big punches. Ground and pound. Miocic scoots to fence and stands up. Crazy sequence. JDS’ face is disfigured with blood and a hematoma and swelling. They cross again, and each man absorbs as much as he dishes. MMA Fighting scores R4 for Dos Santos 10-9 (38-38 overall)
Round 5: They touch them up. What warriors they’ve been; this is Hunt-Bigfoot-like. USA chant breaks out, as they plant and trade in center. Again, both absorb the punches. Both still moving around well, albeit slower. Dos Santos using the jab to set up the overhand right, but he misses again. Still, he’s doing damage even in the nickel-and-dime stuff. Dos Santos goes low to the body, and again, this time coming up top with a left as a follow-up. Miocic tries for a takedown, but not much behind it. Big body punch from Dos Santos, and another. They are slower; Miocic looks dead on his feet, but he’s returning fire when he can. JDS still the more active striker midway through. Dos Santos coming in low to the body again, and occasionally coming up top. He’s mixing it up. Now Miocic lands a right hand, then another, and then a huge right hand that puts Dos Santos on the fence. Just when you think Miocic has faded, he springs back to life. What a fight. Clinch, and they trade in close. Now Dos Santos with three body shots in succession as Miocic tries to peel away. Miocic coming forward now and throws some crazy punches that land. JDS slams a right home that freezes him for a minute. They keep trading all the way to the bell. Wow! MMA Fighting scores R5 for Dos Santos, 10-9 (48-47 for Dos Santos overall)
UFC on FOX 13 official results: Junior dos Santos def. Stipe Miocic via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)