DANIEL CORMIER VS. STIPE MIOCIC REMATCH SET
Brock Lesnar is not coming back, and also the date and competition for another title defense of UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has been put.
According to a report by ESPN, after Lesnar informed UFC president Dana White he is not returning to the Octagon, Cormier will now fight Stipe Miocic at a rematch at a UFC PPV after this summer, taking place August 17 in Anaheim, California. It’s not yet known if this PPV is going to be called UFC 240 or UFC 241.
The revealing of this rematch between Cormier and Miocic puts a stop to the rumors that Lesnar would be returning to the Octagon to fight Cormier. If you remember, following Cormier knocked out Miocic last summer at UFC 226, Lesnar entered the Octagon and shoved Cormier, together with the UFC announcing plans for that struggle to be following. On the contrary, it never happened. Lesnar continued to wrestle for WWE while Cormier proceeded to make a successful title defense against Derrick Lewis. Miocic, meanwhile, had kept high hopes about obtaining a rematch. It wasn’t expected the UFC would reward him one, but it seems that is the case.
Cormier (22-1, 1 NC) is 11-1, 1 NC from the UFC with a perfect 4-0 record as a heavyweight inside the Octagon. Besides a loss to Jon Jones along with a No Decision to Jones, Cormier has been flawless in his MMA career. He’s now riding a three-fight win series, with victories over Lewis, Miocic and Volkan Oezdemir over his last three contests. He has not lost a fight in more than four decades, because the very first Jones bout. Now 40 years old, Cormier does not have many fights left in him, and it was expected he’d fight Lesnar and possibly Jones for a third period before drifting off into the sunset. Instead, he will now take on Miocic in a rematch.
Miocic (18-3) is 12-3 overall from the UFC. He has not fought since his surprising KO loss to Cormier last summer, but before that has been riding a six-fight win streak that included victories over the likes of Franics Ngannou, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Andrei Arlovski and Mark Hunt. He had been demanding a rematch against Cormier for a while, but the UFC was determined that Lesnar would get the rematch. But with Lesnar now not being part of the UFC’s future plans, Miocic is receiving the rematch he deserves.
Though Miocic was the preferred heading into the first fight, it is difficult to see him being favored in the rematch. Instead, it seems quite probable that Cormier is going to be the betting favorite for this second battle. After all, he deserves it considering he brutally knocked out Miocic the first time they fought. That is not to say it will not be an interesting rematch. Miocic has all of the capabilities in the world to make the adjustments required to make the rematch a more competitive struggle, and today we’ll learn whether he can do so. He will be looking to reclaim his gold this summer, while Cormier will probably be seeking to get another win and continue to construct his legacy.
Disclaimer: This page includes affiliate links and MMA Odds Breaker will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on the links.