Stipe Miocic (/'sti:p[unsupported input] mi'[unsupported input]t??t?/; born August 19, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist and fireman currently competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. As of April 2017, he is ranked #5 pound for pound in the UFC. Miocic has defended the belt twice, and by doing that he tied the record for most title defenses with Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, Tim Sylvia and Randy Couture.
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Early life
Stipe Miocic was born and raised in Euclid, Ohio to Croatian parents. Miocic played baseball, football and wrestled while at Eastlake North High School. Miocic received interest from Major League Baseball teams during his collegiate years at Cleveland State University and Trevecca Nazarene University.
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Mixed martial arts career
Early career
With a background of being a Cleveland Golden Gloves boxing champion and NCAA Division I wrestler at Cleveland State, Miocic began his MMA career by winning his first five fights by knockout. He then fought for NAAFS (an Ohio-based MMA promotion), where he won the NAAFS Heavyweight Championship by defeating Bobby Brents by submission after delivering numerous strong leg kicks.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
On June 14, 2011, it was announced that Miocic had signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC.
Miocic made his UFC debut against Joey Beltran on October 8, 2011, at UFC 136 and won the fight via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28).
Miocic faced Phil De Fries on February 15, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger. Miocic won the fight via first-round KO, and in the process won a "Knockout of the Night" award.
Miocic faced promotional newcomer Shane del Rosario on May 26, 2012, at UFC 146. He won via TKO (elbows) in the second round.
Miocic faced Stefan Struve on September 29, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV 5. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round. The performance earned both participants "Fight of the Night" honors.
Miocic was scheduled to face returning veteran Soa Palelei on June 15, 2013, at UFC 161. After an injury to UFC 161 headliner Renan Barao, the card was slightly reshuffled. Miocic was paired with Roy Nelson. Miocic defeated Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Miocic faced Gabriel Gonzaga on January 25, 2014, at UFC on Fox 10. He won the fight via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).
Miocic was expected to face Junior dos Santos on May 24, 2014, at UFC 173. However, the bout was shifted a bit and was expected take place a week later on May 31, 2014, at The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 Finale. On May 5, 2014, dos Santos pulled out of the fight, citing a hand injury and was replaced by Fábio Maldonado. Miocic won the fight by TKO due to punches early in the first round and received a "Performance of the Night" bonus as well.
A rescheduled bout with dos Santos eventually took place as the main event at UFC on Fox 13 on December 13, 2014. Miocic lost the back-and-forth fight by unanimous decision. The performance earned both participants "Fight of the Night" honors.
Miocic faced Mark Hunt on May 10, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 65. Miocic won the one-sided fight via TKO in the fifth round. Miocic set a UFC record for the most strikes landed in a fight, outlanding Hunt 361 - 48 over the duration of the bout.
Miocic was expected to face Ben Rothwell on October 24, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 76. However, Miocic pulled out of the fight on October 13 citing injury. Subsequently, Rothwell was removed from the card the following day after the promotion deemed that a suitable opponent could not be arranged on short notice. In turn, Miocic was quickly rebooked and faced Andrei Arlovski in a title eliminator on January 2, 2016, at UFC 195. Miocic defeated Arlovski via TKO at 0:54 in the first round. The win also earned him his second "Performance of the Night" bonus award.
Miocic was briefly scheduled to replace the injured Cain Velasquez and fight Fabricio Werdum for the UFC Heavyweight Championship on February 6 at UFC Fight Night 82. On January 25, the day after this announcement, Werdum pulled out of the fight with a back injury scrapping the fight.
UFC Heavyweight Championship
Miocic eventually faced Werdum at UFC 198 on May 14, 2016. He caught Werdum with a short right hook counter while backpedaling away from a flurry of punches in the first round, earning the championship and giving Werdum his first defeat since June 2011, being nicknamed "The Silencer" for silencing the crowd. He was also awarded a Performance of the Night bonus.
On September 10, 2016, Miocic made his first title defense at UFC 203 against Alistair Overeem. Although he got knocked down early in the fight, he came back quickly and won via knockout in the first round. Both participants were awarded Fight of the Night honors.
Miocic made his second title defense against Junior dos Santos on May 13, 2017 at UFC 211 in a rematch. Dos Santos previously beat Miocic by a close unanimous decision at UFC on Fox: dos Santos vs. Miocic in 2014. However, this time Miocic started strong and took control of the octogan early. Despite taking hard kicks to the shin, Miocic landed powerful punches with devastating accuracy to drop dos Santos, he then followed up with ground and pound to win the fight via TKO midway through the first round. The win also earned Miocic his fourth Performance of the Night bonus award. He is now tied for the most UFC Heavyweight title defenses (two) in the divisions history.
Personal life
Miocic works as a firefighter and paramedic in Oakwood and Valley View, Ohio.
By September 1985, Miocic's parents had divorced and his father had returned to Croatia.
Miocic played collegiate baseball and wrestled for NCAA Division I Cleveland State University.
He married Ryan Marie Carney on June 18, 2016, in Parma, OH.
Titles and accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- UFC Heavyweight Championship (One time, current)
- Two successful title defenses
- Fight of the Night (Three times) vs Stefan Struve, Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem
- Performance of the Night (Four times) vs. Fábio Maldonado, Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum and Junior dos Santos
- Knockout of the Night (One time) vs. Philip De Fries
- Tied (Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez) for most consecutive heavyweight title defenses (2)
- Most strikes landed in a single fight (361) vs. Mark Hunt
- Second most knockout victories in UFC Heavyweight division history (8)
- MMAJunkie.com
- 2014 December Fight of the Month vs. Junior dos Santos
- North American Allied Fight Series
- NAAFS Heavyweight Championship (one time)
- Sherdog
- 2015 Beatdown of the Year vs. Mark Hunt
- Fight Matrix
- Lineal MMA Heavyweight Champion (One time, current)
Mixed martial arts record
Pay-per-view bouts
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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