Kenny Florian wouldn’t be surprised if Stipe Miocic can hold on to his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) gold for a long time.
Miocic is set to defend his heavyweight title against Junior dos Santos in the main event of UFC 211. The event is set to take place inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on May 13. Miocic vs. dos Santos at UFC 211 will be a rematch from their Dec. 2014 bout.
During a recent appearance on Sports Illustrated’s The Extra Rounds podcast, Florian said he believes Miocic could’ve been awarded the decision against “Cigano” (via Flo Combat):
“I think that he certainly thought it was a step up in competition for him. I still had him winning the fight. I actually think he won that first fight. It was certainly close. It’s hard to argue either way when there’s a fight that close but I thought he did enough to win. But still, I think it was one of those things that propelled him, mentally, as a martial artist. And showed him what he’s capable of. Since then, he’s improved a great deal.”
As far as Miocic’s future as the “Baddest Man on The Planet” goes, Florian believes Miocic has the potential to be the heavyweight kingpin for quite some time.
“I think he certainly has the potential to. The heavyweight division is such that one mistake and that’s going to be the difference between you being on your feet and you being knocked out. I think the margin of error in the heavyweight division is small but right now I think it’s not so strong. Obviously there’s been a lot of inconsistency with fighter injuries and things like that. I do think he has that potential. I do think he can find some consistency that it really hasn’t seen.”
