In a clash of surging heavyweights, eighth-ranked Stipe Miocic outworked 12th-ranked Gabriel Gonzaga en route to a lackluster unanimous-decision win in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 10 on Saturday.
Miocic absorbed some stinging shots from a sharp and aggressive Gonzaga in Round 1.
Gonzaga slowed considerably in Round 2, and the well-conditioned Miocic exploited the Brazilian’s shortcoming by cranking up the pace.
Extremely gassed, Gonzaga narrowly escaped a TKO on the ground in Round 3 from a persistent Miocic.
Because of the grinding nature of the bout, neither Miocic nor Gonzaga will see his name spike in the heavyweight rankings.
But two fellow world-ranked heavyweights, Alistair Overeem (No. 9) and Frank Mir (No. 10), will get their opportunities to leapfrog contenders in the rankings when they lock horns at UFC 169 on Saturday.
Here are the latest official UFC heavyweight rankings heading into UFC 169.