5 reasons Stipe Miocic is the UFC heavyweight GOAT

At UFC 260 in Las Vegas, reigning UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic will face Francis Ngannou in a rematch of their 2018 title fight. Fans are always going to debate who the GOAT is but in the UFC heavyweight division one fighter stands above them all.

Here are five reasons why Stipe Miocic is the greatest UFC heavyweight fighter of all time.

5. Stipe is a firefighter and UFC Champion

Only four UFC fighters have held belts in two divisions at the same time - Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Henry Cejudo and Amanda Nunes.

While Stipe will never be a UFC ‘Champ-Champ’, he is the first-ever 'Hero-Champ'. When he’s not in the octagon defending his heavyweight title, Stipe works as a firefighter/paramedic. He has worked for the emergency services since 2010 in Oakwood and Valley View, Ohio.

4. He's knocked out four ex-UFC heavyweight champions

Stipe’s UFC record is unmatched. He has knocked out four former UFC heavyweight champions. Andrei Arlovski lasted less than a minute at UFC 195, and Miocic won the UFC title by knocking out Fabricio Werdum in the first round in Brazil at UFC 198.

Junior Dos Santos, who had beaten Stipe in their first bout, challenged Miocic at UFC 211, only to be finished in the first round of their rematch. "Champ-Champ" Daniel Cormier was stopped in the fourth round of their title rematch at UFC 241.

Miocic also TKO’d former Strikeforce and Dream heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.

3. Only fighter to dominate Francis Ngannou

Before Stipe faced Francis Ngannou at UFC 220 in Boston, the MMA world had already crowned the fighter from Cameroon as the next heavyweight king. Ngannou was undefeated in the UFC and had finished every one of his opponents. His six-fight UFC win streak included a vicious knockout of MMA legend Alistair Overeem, proving the Cameroonian was a stone-cold killer.

In the first round of the fight, ‘The Predator’ threw massive right and left-hand bombs at Miocic. It seemed that it was only a matter of time before the champion was knocked out. However, Stipe survived a first-round assault from Ngannou and used his wrestling to take the challenger down, over and over again.

By the end of the fifth round, Miocic had completely dominated Ngannou, landing 200 strikes on his way to a unanimous decision victory.

UFC 220: Miocic v Ngannou

2. He defeated Daniel Cormier twice

Daniel Cormier defeated Stipe Miocic at UFC 226 by first-round knockout to win the UFC heavyweight belt. When Brock Lesnar entered the octagon after a fight to challenge Cormier, it looked like Miocic may never get a rematch.

Yet the Lesnar fight fell through and Stipe was eventually given his rematch at UFC 241. After losing the opening two rounds, Stipe made an epic comeback with body shots and stopped ‘DC’ in the fourth round.

The trilogy fight headlined UFC 252. In a back-and-forth matchup, Miocic was able to outpoint Cormier, sending the challenger into retirement.

1. Historic championship win streak

Before Stipe Miocic won the UFC heavyweight championship, no previous heavyweight champion had ever defended the belt more than twice. Not even legendary fighters such as Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, and Randy Couture had been able to accomplish this feat.

Miocic broke the long-time record of two defenses by successfully beating Alistair Overeem, Junior Dos Santos, and Francis Ngannou. The record still stands and cements the Cleveland fighter as the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time.