Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos has absorbed beatings and gone into the deep water of the championship rounds.
Before Saturday night, Stipe Miocic had not.
And that spelled the difference in the main event of UFC on FOX 13 Saturday night. Dos Santos absorbed a wicked onslaught over the fight’s opening two rounds, then turned the fight in Phoenix in his favor.
After 25 minutes of brutal and bloody action, Dos Santos won via unanimous decision. The judges’ scores were 48-47 and a pair of odd 49-46s.
With the victory, dos Santos (25-5) won for the second time in his past three fights. He’s 11-0 in the UFC when not fighting current champion Cain Velasquez.
Miocic took it to dos Santos over the opening 10 minutes, cutting off angles, stalking dos Santos, and landing big shots.
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Just as observers were beginning to ponder whether the beatings dos Santos took against Cain Velasquez in their past two fights took years off his career, the champion mounted his comeback in round three. Dos Santos dropped Miocic with a fight-changing shot and nearly finished him. A bloodied Miocic got back to his feet, but was noticeably slower the rest of the way.
Over the final 10 minutes, the two traded shots as the bout became a war of attrition. Round four was a total coin flip of a round, while Miocic looked stronger in round five as he finished strong.
Miocic (12-2) had a three-fight win streak snapped.
Judges Glenn Trowbridge and Marcos Rosales gave dos Santos every round except round two; while judge Derek Clearly gave Miocic rounds two and five for a 48-47 JDS score.