It’s rare to see a fighter’s stock rise after a loss, but that is precisely what appears to have happened to Stipe Miocic after his career-shortening slugfest with Junior Dos Santos at UFC on Fox 13.
Few gave the part-time firefighter much of a chance leading up to the bout, reasoning that the former UFC heavyweight champion’s considerable strengths would likely prove to be a stylistic nightmare.
However, the opening two rounds for the 32-year-old Miocic were less a nightmare and more a dream of the damp variety, as he dictated the pace of the bout and landed a number of crunching shots that soon had his Brazilian foe resembling Sloth from The Goonies. I half-expected Dos Santos to scream, “Hey you guys!” to his corner in between rounds.
Miocic appeared to be leaning heavily on the strategy successfully employed by heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez in his second and third bouts with Dos Santos. Unfortunately, such a lung-bursting approach would likely challenge the cardio of Kenyan distance runners, never mind a UFC heavyweight.
By the third frame, Miocic had slowed down considerably, and the former champion wasted no time in taking advantage, punishing his foe with heavy shots to the body and head.
The pair went back and forth through the championship rounds, producing one of those rare occasions when the audience would feel satisfied by almost any outcome.
Dos Santos was given the nod by the judges, but few would have complained had the decision gone the other way. There were a couple of inexplicable 49-46 scorecards, but that’s almost par for the course at this point.
Having come away from a narrow defeat smelling like roses, what’s next for Miocic once his bruises have healed? Feel free to read on and indulge my speculation.