Tale of the Tape:
This is the third fight for Stipe Miocic and Daniele Cormier. In their first fight at UFC 226, Cormier stole the belt from Miocic with a KO/TKO at 4:33 of the first round. Miocic took back his title in the highly anticipated rematch at UFC 241 to take his title belt back from Cormier. In each fight, Cormier dominated the majority of the match by landing heavy uppercut after heavy uppercut to Miocic’s head. Cormier also won the ground battle by wearing down Miocic with his superior wrestling.
But, something clicked for Miocic in the fourth round of their second fight. Miocic started to pound Cormier’s body which led to fatigue and confusion for Cormier who was looking to continue the power boxing game. After these hard body blows, Miocic was able to flurry punches to Cormier’s head for a KO/TKO. (The full fight is in the video below.)
Now, in their third match, the fighters enter under interesting circumstances. Miocic has spent the majority of 2020 working at his volunteer fire fighter position during the COVID pandemic. As for Cormier, he has spent a lot of time announcing fights, but some people in the UFC world have questioned his devotion to staying in shape for this title fight as the date kept getting pushed back. Neither fighter has had their typical focus heading into the match with everything else going on in the world, so it could take some time for the action to get into full swing (no pun intended) tonight.
Our Prediction:
If this fight were to last the full five rounds, I think that the decision would clearly go to Daniel Cormier. He has dominated Miocic technically in both fights and would have likely won either one by decision. I am just not sure DC has it in him right now to go five rounds. This is the final fight of his career, and he is looking to end it with a huge win in this trilogy. He is going to be going for the knockout and going for it early.
Miocic has better stamina though, and did not have to deal with the back injury recovery that Cormier did since their last fight. He’s figured out how to attack DC’s body which helps the advantage swing into his direction. Miocic is motivated not only by regaining his title belt but also the possibility of a Super Fight with Jon Jones. This is going to be a hell of a fight, but Miocic has the upper hand in this one.
Winner: Stipe Miocic via Third Round Knockout