Stipe Miocic claims he was notified of the Daniel Cormier bout just two days before fighting Francis Ngannou.
This Saturday night (July 7), Miocic will defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title against light heavyweight champion Cormier. The bout will headline UFC 226. The main card is set to air live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET.
For Miocic, it’s a chance to extend his record for most successful heavyweight title defenses in UFC history. For Cormier, it’s his chance to become the only fighter to hold the UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight titles simultaneously. This will be the UFC’s first champion vs. champion bout since Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez back in Nov. 2016.
It appears this bout has been on the UFC’s radar since at least January. During a media lunch scrum, Miocic said the UFC informed him of the plans just two days before his title defense against Ngannou back at UFC 220 (via MMAFighting.com):
“I told them, ‘shut up.’ I got more things to worry about. It had nothing to do with Cormier. Dude, leave me alone — I’m fighting in two days. You’re talking about how I’m gonna get hit by the Ford Escort power and you’re gonna come at me with this?”
Miocic went on to defeat Ngannou via unanimous decision. In the buildup to the fight, Ngannou’s punching power was heavily hyped. In the end, it was discovered that Ngannou’s gas tank and takedown defense weren’t up to par yet.
UFC 226 takes place inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Featherweight champion Max Holloway is looking for his second successful title defense when he meets Brian Ortega. “T-City” earned his title shot with a stunning first-round knockout over Frankie Edgar earlier this year. MMA News has you covered with live coverage of UFC 226.
Any chance the UFC will contact Stipe Miocic again, only this time about fighting Brock Lesnar?
