The Godfather. Toy Story. Lord Of The Rings.
Movie goers love themselves some trilogies.
Fight fans feel view the trilogy with a similar fervent passion.
Ali-Frazier. Liddell-Couture. Wanderlei Silva-Rampage Jackson.
Everything is just better when it comes in threes.
Call them a trio, a threepeat, or a troika, they all come equipped with a rubber match. That’s certainly the case with the third Stipe Miocic-Daniel Cormer bout, slated for Aug. 15th as the headliner of UFC 252.
This, as was the case with their other two fights, this one arrives with the UFC world heavyweight title belt on the line. However, according to UFC President Dana White, there’s a much larger prize at stake, one that will provide the winner a forever presence in both mixed martial arts, as well as pop culture as a whole.
White insists the winner of this fight will reign as the greatest heavyweight in the history of the UFC promotion.
Let’s Recap
A look back at the Miocic-Cormier story so far:
Miocic’s title belt will be on the line this time, as it was when the two first tangled at UFC 226. In that bout on July 7, 2018, Cormier, the reigning light heavyweight champion, returned to the heavyweight division. Though absent from the division four four years, Cormier had never lost a round on judges’ cards as a heavyweight competitor with UFC.
He kept that streak intact and captured the title by knocking out Miocic in the first round.
The victory allowed Cormier to join Conor McGregor (featherweight, lightweight) as the only fighters in UFC history to hold two world titles simultaneously. Cormier would later become the first fighter in the promotion’s legacy to simultaneously defend world titles in two different weight classes.
The second Cormier-Miocic bout was included as part of UFC 241 on August 17, 2019. Although Cormier did some very impressive work in the early part of the fight, Miocic rallied and regained the world title belt via a fourth-round knockout.
“The last fight was a good fight,” Cormier told UFC Embedded. “I started well and he made adjustments and got the victory. But, by no means do I look at that fight and think there are areas I can’t fix.”
TIght Quarters
Both previous Cormier-Miocic bouts ended via stoppage. Photo by: UFC YouTube.com screenshot.
Originally slated for Dublin, Ireland, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the fight being rescheduled for the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. This change of venue could potentially make a significant impact upon the outcome of the fight.
The octagon at the UFC Apex is 25 feet in diameter, five feet smaller than the standard size for a bout of this stature. Fans of MMA prefer the smaller cage, feeling it promotes more action within the fight, since there’s less room for a fighter in trouble to escape a pursuer.
The thinking is that the tighter quarters will benefit Cormier, an Olympic wrestler in a previous career.
“The smarter way to get my hand raised is to use all my tools,” Cormier said.
Miocic, once a champion Golden Gloves, prefers to fight more of a stand-up style and rely on his powerful striking ability to wear down and ultimately finish off an opponent.
Tough Call
To understand how difficult it is to determine a winner of this bout, simply take a look at the UFC 252 betting lines at any online sportsbook. For example, MyBookie sees the fight as a virtual dead heat. The sportsbook doesn’t offer a favorite, listing both fighters with identical odds of -115.
Taking into consideration that neither of their first two meetings went the distance, an intriguing prop wager might be to play on when the fight will come to a conclusion. MyBookie lists odds of +120 that Cormier-Miocic III will be done before 2.5 rounds have expired. More than 2.5 rounds is being offered at a betting line of -150.
It will be interesting to watch which way the line moves as the fight draws nearer and some of the sharps begin to place larger wagers on the outcome.
