There’s no telling how long Stipe Miocic’s reign atop the topsy-turvy UFC heavyweight division might last.
This isn’t a weight class known for making long commitments, after all.
But Miocic seems like a good dude, and however long he manages to stay atop the bucking bronco that is 265 pounds, it figures to be a fun time for all.
The Ohio native appeared eerily calm leading up to his surprise knockout of Fabricio Werdum at UFC 198. He casually champed his gum as he walked the aisle to the cage, apparently unperturbed by the 45,000 fans in Curitiba, Brazil, many of whom were literally shouting for his death.
Miocic was equally cool and composed during the two minutes, 47 seconds he spent in the cage with the reigning UFC heavyweight champion. He looked loose, slinging easy punches and gliding around the cage with that same expression on his face—like a man out for a Sunday stroll.
Perhaps Miocic’s Midwestern cool unnerved even Werdum. Maybe that’s what ultimately spurred the champ into a series of reckless, lunging attacks that ended when Miocic shut his lights out with a counter right hand just after the midway point of the opening stanza.
Werdum came in a slight favorite according to Odds Shark, but it was Miocic who emerged as the 19th man to hold the UFC heavyweight title.
When it was over, he sprinted across the mat and vaulted the cage into the throng of his coaches and cornermen.
“I’m a world champ!” Miocic shouted. “I’m a world champ!”
It was a moment immortalized on the UFC’s official Twitter timeline:
As MMA Junkie’s Ben Fowlkes wrote, it seemed in those early moments as if Miocic was trying to convince himself of it.
Something about the way he said it, you got the sense that he couldn’t quite believe it yet. It was as if he were trying, through sheer repetition, to get himself to accept this brand new fact about his life. Or maybe he feared it was all a beautiful dream, and he wanted to know what the words felt like on his lips before he woke up.
Is it a dubious honor, to be UFC heavyweight champ? To be sure.
Remember, this is a championship so mired in instability and inactivity that it sometimes seems cursed. No man has ever successfully defended it more than twice. Heavyweight title reigns typically end painfully, prematurely and with a strong undercurrent of embarrassment.
Take Werdum, for example. Last week, we were wondering aloud if he would be the one to finally lead the heavyweight ranks out of the shadows. This week we’re left with the lasting image of him slumped against the cage, trying to figure out how all that promise could evaporate during the split second between when Miocic’s fist collided with his chin and his body landed on the canvas.
Before Werdum, we thought Cain Velasquez might be the guy.
Before Velasquez, it was Brock Lesnar.
And before Lesnar, well, you get the picture…
So you’ll forgive us this week if we don’t spend a lot of time scratching our heads over whether Miocic can finally reverse the curse and bring some stability to a division that has never really had any.
Let’s just say this: If you need someone to be the champion in the UFC’s wildest, wackiest division, Miocic seems like as good a choice as any.
For starters, there’s the obvious stuff: At 33 years old, he’s a veritable spring chicken in a weight class dominated by graybeards and the stars of bygone days. At 15-2, it feels like he’s still in the midst of his prime as a fighter—maybe just coming into it. Those two things alone set him apart from most of the competition.
Miocic lost a 2012 bout to Stefan Struve via TKO and then rattled off three straight wins before losing a questionable decision to Junior Dos Santos in December 2014. Aside from that, he’s come mostly as good as advertised.
At 6’4”, 240 pounds, he’s a midsized, athletic heavyweight who can out-slug most opponents his own stature, while out-maneuvering and out-quicking those who are bigger. To date, 12 of his career wins have ended in stoppages, and his striking-heavy style means he can make an exciting matchup with just about anybody.
Miocic seems like just as good a candidate to head up this crazy division outside the cage, too.
You get the impression this guy doesn’t take himself too seriously.
Miocic is that extreme rarity in combat sports—a fighter who is actually worth following on social media. Whether he’s retweeting the haters or live-tweeting the playoff games of his beloved Cleveland Cavaliers, it’s usually pretty entertaining.
But we’re not going to lie to you, he’ll have some tough fights coming up for as long as he remains champion. Nothing but tough fights, actually.
There have been immediate calls for a Werdum rematch, but in the interest of busting the title picture out of its seemingly endless cycle of do overs, Alistair Overeem may have the inside track for No. 1-contender status.
After a rocky start to his own UFC run, Overeem has righted the ship with four straight wins. He’s widely considered on the downside of a long career but will still make a compelling and difficult test if he does get the green light for a title fight.
Assuming Miocic retains his belt there, it seems logical that the winner of the scheduled bout between Velasquez and Travis Browne at UFC 200 would be up next. That would shape up as a doozy.
But all that’s getting ahead of ourselves. To try to predict even that modestly into the future assumes a level of continuity that the heavyweight division has never been able to muster.
It’s foolish to try to pretend we know how long Miocic can be champion, or even which tests will greet him. In truth, we should probably expect delays, misfires and a fair amount of chaos.
But with Miocic at the helm, perhaps for the first time in a long time there is some cause to feel optimistic about the UFC heavyweight division.
We will get some good fights out of it and maybe even some quality entertainment too.
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