The hype surrounding Saturday’s main event between Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic was at a fever pitch with this being the final fight for the Lafayette, Louisiana native. However, the storybook ending just wasn’t meant to be as Miocic was able to take the rubber match and retain his heavyweight championship at UFC 252 by unanimous decision.
Much of the first round was dominated by Cormier with an early takedown and several heavy strikes that staggered the reigning champion. The script was flipped late in the second round when Miocic landed a punch to the head of Cormier which caused him to move away from him. Miocic was looking for the win, but the second round ended before official Marc Goddard could call the fight.
As round three started, Daniel Cormier still looked like he was feeling the effects of the late second-round blow. He fought back, but the middle round was largely Miocic controlling the fight against the fence and near his team to aid him in hearing their advice for the remainder of the round. There was a bit of controversy at the end of the third round with Miocic poking Cormier in the eye but there was no call for time due to the official not seeing it.
The fourth round was the most competitive with Cormier holding off takedown attempts from Miocic and landed tons of significant strikes. The final round was fairly anti-climactic with Stipe controlling the cage until the final horn went off.
Below is the rest of the card results for UFC 252
- Stipe Miocic (c) def. Daniel Cormier via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
- Marlon Vera def. Sean O’Malley via first-round TKO (punches, elbows)
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Junior dos Santos via second-round TKO (punches)
- Daniel Pineda def. Herbert Burns via second-round TKO (elbows)
- Merab Dvalishvili def. John Dodson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Vinc Pichel def. Jim Miller via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
- Virna Jandiroba def. Felice Herrig via first-round submission (armbar)
- Danny Chavez def. TJ Brown via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Livia Renata Souza def. Ashley Yoder via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Chris Daukaus def. Parker Porter via first-round TKO (punches)
- Kai Kamaka def. Tony Kelley via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)