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It started off slowly, but UFC 252 eventually built to a crescendo and gave UFC fans one of the better shows of 2020.
The show was obviously built around the third UFC Heavyweight title fight between Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier, and while the duo went the distance this time, the fight lived up to the hype.
Meanwhile, we got the derailing of one hype train and perhaps the end of the line for an all-time great.
Here are the best and worst moments from UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier 3.
#1 Best: Miocic proves he’s the best Heavyweight in UFC history
The build to last night’s main event saw the UFC suggesting that the winner of the third Stipe Miocic/Daniel Cormier fight would be considered the best Heavyweight in MMA history. I’m not so sure about that – the shadow of Fedor Emelianenko still looms greatly. But with his win last night it’s hard to dispute the idea that Miocic is the best in UFC history at least.
The fight last night was fascinating because both men attempted to use the elements that’d given them success in the earlier clashes. Cormier looked for the short right hook coming out of the clinch that won him the title at UFC 226 – and landed it numerous times. Miocic, on the other hand, continually attempted to break ‘DC’ down with body shots as he’d done at UFC 241.
In the end, both men landed some huge shots and hurt the other, but as the fight hit the latter stages, Miocic seemed just one step ahead. It was no real surprise when he saw his hand raised, giving him his fourth successful UFC title defense overall.
Can he keep the title when he rematches the surging Francis Ngannou at some point in the future? Only time will tell, but for now – with two wins over Cormier, as well as victories over Ngannou, Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Mark Hunt, Andrei Arlovski, and Roy Nelson – he stands as the UFC’s greatest ever big man.
#1 Worst: Cormier’s run comes to an unfortunate end
Not many fighters leave the world of MMA on top – Georges St. Pierre is perhaps the only name that comes to mind. And while Daniel Cormier came close, in the end, he wasn’t able to retire as a UFC champion.
Cormier fought excellently last night. He gave Stipe Miocic all he had and even had him badly hurt in the first round. But once he was hurt by a series of right hands in the second round, he never really looked in control. And an eye poke at the end of the third round made matters even worse for him.
‘DC’ announced his retirement after the fight – a year later than he’d once promised to walk away – and so it’s hard not to look at his legacy this morning.
As one of the UFC’s few Double Champions, he’s definitely up there with the all-time greats. However, you can’t shake off the idea that he was never the dominant fighter in the UFC, essentially thanks to the presence of one Jon Jones, who beat ‘DC’ twice.
Things would’ve been very different had Cormier won last night, but unfortunately, the UFC isn’t fond of giving us fairytale endings.
Overall, Cormier can walk away with his head held high – but there’ll probably be a nagging voice in his head today asking “what if?”
#2 Best: Rozenstruik shows he’s a real UFC title contender
After he was destroyed by Francis Ngannou in a matter of seconds at UFC 249, there were a lot of questions hanging over Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
‘Bigi Boy’ had shot towards the top of the UFC Heavyweight division pretty quickly after knocking out Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem in quick succession. But the semi-controversial nature of the Overeem fight coupled with the Ngannou loss brought into question exactly how good the native of Suriname was.
Last night though, Rozenstruik proved his credentials, big time. In his fight with Junior Dos Santos, he was faced with a former UFC champion who looked to be in his best shape for a long time. JDS even hit him with some of his best punches – but ‘Bigi Boy’ took them all.
And once he landed a short one-two to the former UFC champion in the second round, Rozenstruik showed his ruthless side and finished things off.
Who should ‘Bigi Boy’ take on next? One obvious name comes to mind and that’s Derrick Lewis. ‘The Black Beast’ racked up a UFC record-breaking 11th knockout last weekend, and if Rozenstruik were to beat him, he wouldn’t be far away from a title shot at all.
#2 Worst: Dos Santos hangs on for too long
It seems hard to believe, but this October will mark the 12th anniversary of Junior Dos Santos’s UFC debut. ‘Cigano’ knocked out Fabricio Werdum to launch himself into superstardom back at UFC 90 and went onto claim the UFC Heavyweight title three years later by knocking out Cain Velasquez.
Unfortunately, though, Dos Santos hasn’t looked like the same fighter for some time now. In all honesty, he’s never been quite right since Velasquez ended their trilogy by beating him down at UFC 166 back in October 2013. Since that fight, the Brazilian has gone 5-5 and has now lost his last three fights.
There’s no shame in losing to a guy like Jairzinho Rozenstruik as he did last night. And to be fair, before he was knocked out, JDS was actually looking pretty good. But the fact is that we’ve said the same thing about plenty of fighters before – from Chuck Liddell to Rashad Evans – and the painful truth is always the same.
The majority of UFC fighters simply don’t know when to hang their gloves up and Dos Santos can now count himself amongst them. Realistically, ‘Cigano’ should’ve retired after his loss to Curtis Blaydes earlier in 2020.
Will he hang it up after this loss? Probably not, and that’s worrying for his future health. He simply doesn’t have the durability to compete in the UFC anymore, and to continue will probably only lead to more nasty knockouts like the one he suffered last night.
#3 Best: The O’Malley hype train comes off the rails
I don’t like to revel when a fighter loses in the UFC. After all, anyone stepping into the Octagon is a top-level athlete who deserves a ton of respect. But it was hard not to enjoy seeing Marlon Vera derail the hype train surrounding ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley last night.
A graduate of Dana White’s Contender Series, O’Malley has been pushed hard by the UFC since his debut there in 2017. And up to last night, he’d lived up to the hype, going 4-0 and looking massively impressive along the way.
However, there was always something that didn’t sit quite right about him – whether that was his suspension for PEDs in 2019 or his recent gripes about his pay packet. And when he began to call out former UFC Bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt in a disrespectful way, it definitely felt like he’d begun to buy into his own hype a little too much.
Most observers were writing off Marlon Vera’s chances against ‘Sugar Sean’ last night, but that was always a bad idea. ‘Chito’ is an ultra-tough veteran with finishing skills in all areas. And when it came down to action, the Ecuadorian proved his doubters very wrong.
Sure, he was helped out by what appeared to be an ankle injury suffered by O’Malley midway through the first round. But when ‘Sugar Sean’ stumbled to the ground, Vera seized on his opportunity and simply destroyed him with elbows, forcing Herb Dean to stop the fight.
Will O’Malley bounce back from the loss? Most likely, sure. He’s only 25 years old and still has a ton of potential. But hopefully, he’ll show a little less hubris going forward.
