UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic is open to defending his title against whoever is next in line after beating Daniel Cormier for the second time in their third and final fight at UFC 252.
Before the fight UFC boss, Dana White expressed his belief that the winner of Miocic-Cormier III would be the best heavyweight of all-time. Miocic was happy to have earned that tag but was keen to give credit to his support team.
“Listen, I’ve done a lot. It wasn’t just me, though,” Miocic told reporters post-fight at UFC 252. “It was my coaches, my wife, my amazing family, my friends. They always supported me and backed me up no matter what. I miss a lot of fun stuff, especially family stuff. It kills me inside missing a lot of stuff like that. It kills me.
“The graduation parties, the baptisms. I couldn’t go. It would kill me, but the best part is no one ever judged me. They always supported me and understood what I’m doing. If it wasn’t for the people around me that I surrounded myself with and my amazing family and my friends and my coaches and my teammates, I wouldn’t be here.”
Miocic reflected on his UFC 252 main event win and was happy with his performance, especially early in the fight, he said.
“(The key to success was) not start like an idiot. I actually started pretty good at the beginning of the fight. He took me down, but I got back up, and I was happy about it. He caught me off guard with a good front headlock. I wasn’t worried about it. He did good. He’s a good fighter and made me second-guess myself, so I had to make him self-guess himself.”
Following Miocic’s win, White revealed Francis Ngannou will get next shot at the heavyweight title and the champ was more than willing to run it back with the Cameroonian who he beat by unanimous decision back in January 2018.
“I’ll fight anyone,” Miocic said. “I don’t care. I love what I do.” (Transcribed by MMA Junkie)
Who do you want to see Stipe Miocic face next?