Daniel Cormier Retires After Losing to Stipe Miocic (Again) At UFC 252

Heavyweight Stipe Miocic defeated Daniel Cormier at UFC 252 in Las Vegas Saturday. The judges’ scorecards told the tale: Miocic was declared the winner by all three with scores of 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47. After five grueling rounds, he retained his belt and his crown as one of the greatest big men in the promotion’s history.

Daniel Cormier decided it was time to bow out of MMA.

It took just three rounds for Miocic to really hurt his famously tough opponent. A vicious blow to his eye left Cormier half-blind for the rest of the match, but he ground out the last two rounds anyway—he made Miocic work for it.

Miocic went with a two-pronged offense of well-aimed striking and keeping Cormier off-balance with clenches that moved him around the Octagon, giving the taller Miocic firm control of the action, for the most part.

After his loss, Cormier announced his retirement by saying, “I’m not interested [in] fighting for anything but titles.” 

“I don’t imagine there will be a title,” he continued, “That will be it for me.”

Miocic said he’s simply heading home to enjoy his summer. “I don’t really care, I’m going home,” he said, “I’ve got the belt.”

Regarding Cormier’s tactics in the Octagon, Miocic said, “I just knew he was going to kick me, I don’t why in the back of my head, the whole camp, I knew he was going to kick my shin.” 

“I checked a couple of them,” he said, “so I know they definitely didn’t feel good for him.”

Cormier, Miocic went on to say, “is an amazing fighter, that’s why he does what he does, that’s why he’s won so many titles and beat so many good guys.”

Miocic heads home to celebrate his victory and his August 19th birthday with an 8-1 record since 2015, and six of his victories were title bouts.

Dana White has indicated Francis Ngannou could be Miocic’s next opponent.

Ngannou tweeted “Congrats to Stipe on the performance,” after the match, ending with, “See you soon.”

Current UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, however, did a little trolling meant to imply he’s ready to go up in weight class, tweeting, “Heavyweight world championships I will be seeing you real soon. Victorious.”

UFC 253 is expected to feature a Middleweight Championship match between reigning titleholder Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa. While the city and venue haven’t been determined, it is scheduled for September 26, 2020.