Stipe Miocic is taking his UFC 226 loss in stride.
Miocic defended the UFC heavyweight title against Daniel Cormier in the main event of UFC 226. The two did battle inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cormier was chasing history as a win would mean he’d be a two-division champion.
In the end, it was Cormier who emerged victorious. He knocked out Miocic via first-round knockout. Cormier is now the first UFC fighter to hold the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles simultaneously.
At the post-fight press conference, Miocic spoke on the loss (via MMAJunkie.com):
“I lost, plain and simple. There are no excuses. He was the better man tonight. … It sucks. Losing’s not fun at all. It sucks. But to put this in perspective, I look at it, and I’m going home right now. My beautiful wife is having my child. There are better things in life than losing. It sucks. I want to come back and get a rematch of course, but listen, right now, it’s ‘DC’s’ day. Good for him.”
Miocic is the record holder for most successful heavyweight title defenses in the UFC. His reign ends with three successful title defenses. Both Miocic and Cormier have their place in the MMA history books.
Cormier will move on to face Brock Lesnar early next year. As for Miocic, there are some fresh match-ups available. Derrick Lewis, Curtis Blaydes, and Alexander Volkov are all fresh opponents for the former heavyweight king.
Who would you like to see Stipe Miocic fight next?
