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#4. Stipe Miocic at UFC 220
At UFC 220, Stipe Miocic cemented his name as the greatest UFC heavyweight champion of all time. By beating Francis Ngannou, the firefighter set a new record for consecutive heavyweight title defenses at three.
Far from being overjoyed as one might expect, it was clear Miocic was in a foul mood before, during and after the fight. Heading into the battle, Ngannou had received heavy promotion as the next big thing in heavyweight fighting. Miocic, meanwhile, received almost nothing in comparison despite being the champ. This was the final straw for the pride of Cleveland.
His UFC 203 defense earned him less money than it did his unsuccessful challenger, Alistair Overeem. The lack of recognition heading into UFC 220 was the cherry on top of years of frustration with Dana White and the promotion as a whole.
Fed up, Miocic proved why the UFC had it all wrong when he expertly dismantled ‘The Predator’ over five rounds. The chip on Miocic’s shoulder was all the motivation he needed to get the job done against the UFC’s scariest knockout artist. Still miffed with UFC president Dana White, Miocic had his coach put the belt around his waist post-fight instead.
#3. Anderson Silva at UFC 148
Chael Sonnen's interminable spoofing of Anderson Silva heading into their UFC 148 rematch struck a chord with ‘The Spider’. As Sonnen made a mockery of every aspect of Silva’s life and career, the Brazilian remained quiet. That was, at least, until a media call just one month before the show.
In regards to Sonnen’s antics and their upcoming fight, Silva said:
“Chael Sonnen's going to get his ass kicked like he's never gotten his ass kicked before. What I'm going to do inside the Octagon is something that's going to change the image of the sport. This is going to be violent and I am sorry. I'm going to make sure that every one of his teeth are broken, that his arms are broken and his legs are broken. He's not going to be able to walk out of the Octagon by himself. I can guarantee that. He will need a plastic surgeon afterwards. And I know that he's listening, so the game's over. No more s*** talking. It's on now."
The normally cool and collected Silva’s comments came as quite a shock at the time. It was clear that Sonnen had pushed the then-UFC middleweight champion too far.
Despite being struck by Sonnen a whopping 289 times during their UFC 117 fight, Silva dominated the rematch from start to finish. In a blazing display of skill and confidence, ‘The Spider’ crushed ‘The American Gangster’ via TKO less than two minutes into round two.
