Five Rounds – Is Stipe Miocic The Biggest Heavyweight In The History Of UFC?

On Saturday, however, he corrected this mistake, and he did so in a way rarely seen by heavyweights. When big players are fought in the beginning, it usually turns into an early night. But Stipe persevered in the best possible performances of Daniel Cormier, reversed the trend in the third round and imposed himself for the fourth time with a brand new attack plan, which he has implemented with brilliance and precision. It's a high-level trick, the kind of fight you only see big.

Or, in this case, the biggest.

Marc Raimondi: I do not think there is any way around this now. Miocic already held the UFC record for consecutive title defenses of the heavyweight at three. He is now a two-time champion with a TKO win over Daniel Cormier, one of the best fighters in his history. If Miocic is not the biggest heavyweight in UFC history, then who is? Cormier? Cain Velasquez? Miocic has the advantage over both, especially now. At 36, Miocic also continues to be successful.

If that was the case for Daniel Cormier, what is his legacy at the UFC?

Helwani: One of the biggest ever. Top five. A living legend. A fighting champion. A man who has been knocked down several times and found a way to overcome everything at the end of his career. I have the greatest respect for Cormier. He never took a shortcut and represented the sport with dignity and class. He has nothing to prove to anyone. The Hall of Fame awaits.

Okamoto: Cormier's legacy is one of the greatest fighters of all time. There should always be a footnote related to his career in which he arrived late. If Cormier had started training at the MMA and had converted to MMA earlier than him, I think there is a good chance we would call him the best of all time. And he has always had an extraordinary career. In fifty years, we will still talk about the greatness of Daniel Cormier. This loss has no effect on that.

Beyond the fighting, DC's legacy is still building. He's the most entertaining of the cage analysts ("Thug Rose! Thug Rose!") And thinks about this: The three characters that decompose the athletes on the Detail show are Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning, and Cormier. DC is not an intruder in this elite company.

Raimondi: He is one of the top three MMA fighters who has ever lived. In the present state of things, I have placed Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre on top of him, but that's all. Cormier is a former UFC heavyweight champion and light heavyweight. He lost only two men, Jones and Miocic. There is no doubt his resume. The quality of its ambassador for sport is just as important. Cormier is an outstanding analyst on ESPN and honors MMA in all positions that the UFC places outside the cage. The best part is that it does not have to end even if he hangs up the gloves.

After three years of absence, was it the Nate Diaz you were hoping to see?

Raimondi: Honestly? Absolutely not. In my mind, Diaz was a huge question after three years of absence. The last time he was beaten, it was in 2016. Ronda Rousey had beaten more recently than Diaz. Of course, we know what Diaz has always brought to the table, but it was impossible to see a dominant victory over Pettis in the cards. Pettis is a talented striker and he has been successful at distance, to be fair. Diaz, however, managed to demolish him against the cage and exposed various diversified techniques in this position. If you ever said that we would attend one of Diaz's best career performances, I probably would not have believed that.

Okamoto: I think Nate's weight is the welterweight. I thought that it would always be very difficult for him to return to lightness. I think in this fight you saw Nate as a real comfortable welterweight. He added strength, but it seemed like he was still skinny. I thought he was fighting smart. He neutralized a very dangerous fighter in Anthony Pettis.

Nate's offensive is always the first thing we think of, because that's what steals the show: the "Stockton Slaps", the strikes and everything in between. But he forced the type of fight that stifled a guy like Pettis, who has about a billion ways to knock you out. He just smothered it. It was extremely impressive. I do not know where Nate will go. I do not know how high his cap is, but he's legitimized as a threat at least in this division at the present time.

Helwani: For the most part, yes. I thought Pettis was a good match for Diaz and I expected him to be fit and motivated for this fight. I was a little surprised that he got tired towards the end of the fight, but this fight took place at an incredible rate, and both guys are tired. I thought that, overall, he fought unbelievably and was really handsome. The fighting game is always more exciting and interesting when the Diaz brothers thrive, so in the name of almost everyone: Welcome, Nathan Diaz.

Wagenheim: To quote (partially) a famous speaker, I'm not surprised. The Diaz game is not a slave to timing as much as strength, cardio and intelligence – and he did not lose any of those things when he was laid off. From the beginning, Anthony Pettis was detonated several times while the fight was disputed from a distance. He showed his IQ in combat by reducing the distance and doing his kind of fight. It sounds simple, but it takes toughness. You will be hit upon arriving, and it takes energy to maintain the relentlessness needed to clear your opponent of a fighting opportunity.

The best shot of the night came after the fight, when Diaz called Jorge Masvidal. What better way to prevent another three-year absence than to engage Nate in a brawl that interests him (and who interests Masvidal, the fans and the UFC bean counters)?

Costa vs Romero: Talk.

Okamoto: It was a good fight, of course, and I scored 29-28 for Paulo Costa. It was one of those fights that could have gone one way or the other. I always wondered what would happen if Costa was unable to walk forward, taking pictures while delivering bigger ones. I was wondering what would happen when someone would spoil this game plan for him.

Even a fighter as powerful as Yoel Romero could not do it. Costa slammed him against the fence and injured him with shots. Although Romero managed to revive Costa from time to time, it was still Costa 101. It was his game plan with which he was successful against inferior fighters. This time he did it against one of the best middleweights we've seen in years and it has always worked. Costa is a legitimate title contender.

Wagenheim: Suddenly, I am a big fan of mistakes. Who would have guessed? Costa's kick on Romero required a break in the first round, giving each man a short break in the middle of a five-minute high-energy spell. Romero's eyes on Costa in the third stopped the sagging fighters. It was good for the athletes and especially for us, the fans. When the action resumed, the two middleweights carved in granite attacked them as masterpieces.

Helwani: Big fight. The wait was worth it. It was a difficult fight to score. I thought Romero had won 29-28, but it was damn tight. Both guys took very hard shots and continued to come. That's probably the result that the UFC leaders wanted deep down because it's now putting Costa against the Whittaker winner against Adesanya. A new competitor is waiting behind the scenes.

Raimondi: Sensational. I mean, what can you say about this fight? If Jim Ross had called him, he would have described him as a slobberknocker. What is crazy is that we saw Costa and Romero fight against others and put them to sleep with some of the shots they reached on Saturday. Costa had never made a decision before in his career. He had finished everyone, but he could not finish Romero. In fact, I had Romero win 29-28, but I can not be too torn by a close fight that was incredibly memorable. What a spectacle these men put on, exchanging blows, exchanging taunts. That's all you want to see in a fall of MMA.

Besides the top three fights, according to you, who has made the greatest progress of the UFC 241?

This is the type of training and combat that will make the Sandhangen run sustainable. He has 12-1 and seven wins in a row, but his biggest moments are yet to come.

An honorable mention for the big splash of the night must go to the winner of the fight right after Sandhagen-Assuncao. Lightweight Khama Worthy debuted at the UFC with a four-day notice as an underdog of +650, and former TKO partner Devonte Smith, coach of the world's biggest dissatisfaction. UFC this year. Love this kind of moments.

Helwani: Sodiq Yusuff. He was placed in a big place on the main map for a reason. He has won five fights in a row, including three in a row in the UFC. He is a rising star and another fighter from Nigeria who is doing well these days. I continue to be impressed by "Super" Sodiq.

Raimondi: Cory Sandhagen is a real problem in weight clays. Raphael Assuncao is rarely dominated as he was on Saturday. Sandhagen is an extremely talented forward with the innate ability to change posture, enter and exit and land accurately. It is almost an updated version of Dominick Cruz. The Colorado native does not have much power, but Sandhagen is hard to reach and solid in all areas, including wrestling and wrestling.

He has big fights in front of him at 135 pounds. And if you do not believe my assessment, go see what his UFC peers have said about him on Twitter during Assuncao. He was extremely impressive at UFC 241.