Stipe Miocic (born August 19, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion. Miocic is widely regarded by critics, commentators and media as the greatest UFC heavyweight fighter of all time. As of August 9, 2021, he is #2 in the UFC heavyweight rankings, Having successfully defended his title four times during his two title reigns, he holds the record for most wins in heavyweight title fights along with the longest title defending streak in the heavyweight division, at three consecutive defenses. Miocic holds the record for fight-night bonus awards, with nine, the most in the UFC heavyweight division's history. Prior to his MMA career, Miocic was a former Golden Gloves boxing champion and NCAA Division I wrestler at

Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in operation since 1923. ...

Early life

He was born and raised in Euclid, Ohio, on August 19, 1982, the son of Croatian immigrants Kathy and Bojan Miocic ( hr, Miočić, ;). His father originates from

Rtina Rtina is a village in northern Dalmatia, Croatia. The population is 452 (census 2011). Rtina belongs to Zadar County, and is located about 13 km from the Motorway No. 1, Zagreb – Split. Rtina lies on a small promontory whose northeaster ...

, while his mother is from Cetingrad, Croatia. His parents separated when he was still a child and he continued to live with his mother, initially with grandparents, and later lived with his stepfather and younger half-brother Jonathan. Since childhood, his mother encouraged his involvement in sports. Miocic played baseball and American football and wrestled while at Eastlake North High School. He received interest from Major League Baseball teams during his collegiate years at

and

Trevecca Nazarene University Trevecca Nazarene University (TNU) is a private Nazarene liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1901. History TNU was founded in 1901 by Cumberland Presbyterian minister J. O. McClurkan as the "Pentecostal Literary ...

. He also played Division II baseball at Coker College his junior year of college. At Trevecca, Miocic was a well-liked student majoring in communication studies. As a member of

Jeff Forehand Jeffery Forehand is an American college baseball coach and former second baseman. Forehand is the head coach of the Lipscomb Bisons baseball team. Early life Forehand attended Belmont University, where he played for the Belmont Bruins baseball ...

's baseball team, he hit .344 with seven home runs in his senior year and helped the Trojans win the 2005

TranSouth Athletic Conference The TranSouth Athletic Conference (TSAC) was a college athletic conference for smaller colleges and universities located in the Southern United States. It was affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and compe ...

regular season and tournament titles. None of his teammates at Trevecca are surprised by his success in MMA. He graduated from Trevecca Nazarene University. He majored in marketing and communications at CSU.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

During his school days, in 2005, he was brought as a training partner to wrestle with

Dan Bobish Daniel Emerson Bobish ( ; born January 26, 1970) is a retired American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He was competing in the Super Heavyweight (no limit) division. He is a former King of the Cage Super Heavyweight Champion. ...

in Strong Style MMA Training Centre, in Independence, Ohio. Miocic at the time trained various sports (wrestling and baseball), to once again come train with them after finishing his paramedic education at Cuyahoga Community College. He initially trained in mixed martial arts but soon changed to boxing. His coach Marcus Marinelli recalled that although he trained only for several months he was beating boxers with much longer experience. After only eight months of training with a background of being a Cleveland Golden Gloves boxing champion (reaching quarter-final in the nationals), and NCAA Division I wrestler at Cleveland State, Miocic began his MMA career by winning his first six fights by knockout. He initially fought for

NAAFS The North American Allied Fight Series (NAAFS) was an Ohio-based mixed martial arts promotion, having put on over 125 events. The weekly ''NAAFS Cage Fighting'' series airs regionally on SportsTime Ohio, nationally on Direct TV and Dish Network, ...

(an Ohio-based MMA promotion), where he won the NAAFS Heavyweight Championship.

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, and 29–28). Miocic faced

Phil De Fries Philip De Fries (born 21 April 1986) is a British mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division of Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki. A professional competitor since 2009, De Fries has formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator, an ...

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 Shane Kalani del Rosario (September 23, 1983 – December 9, 2013) was an American professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Heavyweight division, Strikeforce, M-1 Global, ShoXC, and ...

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 ''UFC on Fuel TV: Struve vs. Miocic'' (also known as ''UFC on Fuel TV 5'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 29, 2012, at Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, United Kingdom. Background Jörgen K ...

. 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 Soa Palelei (born 12 July 1977) is an Australian retired mixed martial artist. A professional from 2002 until 2015, he most notably competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and PRIDE Fighting Championships. Background Born in 1977, Newc ...

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, as a significant betting underdog, defeated Nelson via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 30–27). Miocic faced Gabriel Gonzaga on January 25, 2014, at

UFC on Fox 10 ''UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Thomson'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 10'') was a mixed martial arts event held on January 25, 2014, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Background The event was headlined by a lightweight bout between former w ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 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 ''UFC on Fox: dos Santos vs. Miocic'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 13'') was a mixed martial arts event held at U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 13, 2014. Background The event was the first that the organization has hosted in ...

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 Mark Richard Hunt (born 23 March 1974) is a New Zealand former mixed martial artist and kickboxer of Samoan descent, currently living in Sydney, Australia. Hunt competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) until 2018 and was the winn ...

on May 10, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 65. Miocic won the one-sided fight via TKO in the fifth round. At the time of the stoppage, Miocic was ahead on all three scorecards (40–36, 40–35, and 40–34). Miocic set a UFC record for the most strikes landed in a fight and largest strike margin, outlanding Hunt 361–48 over the duration of the bout. Miocic was expected to face

Ben Rothwell Ben Rothwell (born October 17, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist who competes as a Heavyweight. He most notably had a 17 bout stint in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and competed for the Quad Cities Silverbacks of the IFL where he h ...

on October 24, 2015, at

UFC Fight Night 76 ''UFC Fight Night: Holohan vs. Smolka'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 76'') was a mixed martial arts event held on October 24, 2015, at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Background The event was the third that the organization has hosted in Dublin, ...

. 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

Fabrício Werdum Fabrício Werdum (; born 30 July 1977) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Heavyweight Champion who competes in the Heavyweight division. He is also a 4-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, a two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Wor ...

for the UFC Heavyweight Championship on February 6, 2016, at

UFC Fight Night 82 ''UFC Fight Night: Hendricks vs. Thompson'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 82'') was a mixed martial arts event held on February 6, 2016, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The event was originally billed as ''UFC 19 ...

. On January 25, 2016, the day after this announcement, Werdum pulled out of the fight with a back injury.

UFC Heavyweight Championship

Stipe Miocic in Cleveland on October 26, 2016 (cropped)

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. He was also awarded a ''Performance of the Night'' bonus. On September 10, 2016, Miocic made his first title defense at

UFC 203 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

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 octagon 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. Miocic faced Francis Ngannou on January 20, 2018, at UFC 220. The fight was anticipated as one of the most exciting in UFC history, and Miocic openly felt disrespected because he never received the amount of promotion and support Ngannou did from UFC. Miocic dominated Ngannou for five rounds using strikes with clinch or ground control following takedowns, winning by unanimous decision and breaking the record for most consecutive title defenses for the heavyweight championship with his third successful defense. When he was announced as the winner, instead of the usual practice, he took the belt from Dana White and had his coach Marcus Marinelli put it around him. Miocic received congratulations from both the President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenković. For his fourth title defense, Miocic faced UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier on July 7, 2018, in the main event at UFC 226. The champion vs. champion matchup was billed as "The Superfight". Miocic was the favorite heading into the bout, mainly due to his natural size and power advantage as well as his dangerous striking on the feet. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round, ending his championship reign. The knockout came in controversial fashion, as Cormier was warned multiple times by referee Marc Goddard for extending his fingers towards Miocic's face and poking him in the eye. A rematch between Miocic and Daniel Cormier took place on August 17, 2019, at UFC 241 for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Miocic won the fight by TKO in the fourth round after landing several clean left hooks to the body and following it up with punches to the head, reclaiming the title. This win earned him the''

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

'' award. Miocic would not return to action until 2020 after suffering retinal damage in the fight due to Cormier accidentally poking him in the eye during the fight. On June 9, 2020, it was announced that the trilogy bout between Miocic and Cormier was signed to take place at

UFC 252 ''UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier 3'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 15, 2020 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United Sta ...

on August 15, 2020. Miocic won the fight via unanimous decision, this time with both fighters receiving eye pokes during the fight. Miocic faced Francis Ngannou in a rematch on March 27, 2021, at

UFC 260 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

. He lost the title via knockout in the second round.

Personal life

Miocic works as a part-time firefighter paramedic in Oakwood and

Valley View, Ohio Valley View is a village in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,034 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of Cleveland with a town council form of government. It is part of a school district that also includes nearby Cuyaho ...

. He considers it possible that he will become a full-time firefighter once he retires from MMA. When asked by Joe Rogan why he still works as a firefighter despite being a UFC champion, he stated that he needs something to fall back to after his fighting career is over. He married Ryan Marie Carney on June 18, 2016, at the Divine Word Catholic Church in Kirtland, Ohio. On January 20, 2018, Miocic announced that the couple are expecting their first child. His daughter, Meelah, was born in 2018. They welcomed their second child, a boy named Mateo Cruz, on August 28, 2021 as announced on Miocic's instagram by Bruce Buffer. Miocic can understand Croatian, though he is not fluent and has been learning the language.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

* Ultimate Fighting Championship ** UFC Heavyweight Championship (Two times) ***Four successful title defenses (overall) ****Three successful title defenses (first reign) ****One successful title defense (second reign) ** Fight of the Night (Three times) vs. Stefan Struve, Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem **

(Five times) vs. Fábio Maldonado, Andrei Arlovski,

, Junior dos Santos and Daniel Cormier ** Knockout of the Night (One time) vs.

Philip De Fries Philip De Fries (born 21 April 1986) is a British mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division of Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki. A professional competitor since 2009, De Fries has formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator, a ...

**Most consecutive UFC Heavyweight Championship defenses (three) **Most UFC Heavyweight Championship defenses (four) **Tied (with Randy Couture) for most wins in UFC Heavyweight title fights (six) **Most head strikes landed in a fight (330) vs.

**Most post-fight bonus awards in UFC heavyweight division (9) **UFC Honors 2019 Comeback of the Year vs. Daniel Cormier *

North American Allied Fight Series The North American Allied Fight Series (NAAFS) was an Ohio-based mixed martial arts promotion, having put on over 125 events. The weekly ''NAAFS Cage Fighting'' series airs regionally on SportsTime Ohio, nationally on Direct TV and Dish Network, ...

**NAAFS Heavyweight Championship (One time) *

MMAJunkie.com MMA Junkie is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It was founded in 2006, and is owned by Gannett Company since 2011. The site and its content have been featured in ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine'', ''ESPN The Ma ...

**2014 December Fight of the Month vs. Junior dos Santos **2019 Comeback Fighter of the Year * Sherdog **2015 Beatdown of the Year vs.

Fight Matrix Fight Matrix , MMA Rankings, Records, Statistics is an independent, comprehensive, mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter ranking system portal. It is one of the sport's most recognized ranking websites. According to FightMatrix: "The rankings on thi ...

**MMA Heavyweight Lineal Champion (Two times) *MMADNA.nl **2016 Fighter of the Year. * World MMA Awards **2019 – July 2020 Comeback of the Year vs. Daniel Cormier

Other

*Greater Cleveland Sports Awards Professional Athlete of the Year (2019)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 20–4 , Francis Ngannou , KO (punch) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:52 , Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 20–3 , Daniel Cormier , Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 , Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 19–3 , Daniel Cormier , TKO (punches) , UFC 241 , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 4:09 , Anaheim, California, U.S. , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–3 , Daniel Cormier , KO (punches) , UFC 226 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:33 , Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 18–2 , Francis Ngannou , Decision (unanimous) , UFC 220 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 , Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 17–2 , Junior dos Santos , TKO (punches) , UFC 211 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:22 , Dallas, Texas, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 16–2 , Alistair Overeem , KO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:27 ,

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 15–2 ,

, KO (punch) , UFC 198 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:47 , Curitiba, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 14–2 , Andrei Arlovski , TKO (punches) , UFC 195 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:54 , Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 13–2 ,

, TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Miocic vs. Hunt , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 2:47 , Adelaide, Australia , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–2 , Junior dos Santos , Decision (unanimous) , UFC on Fox: dos Santos vs. Miocic , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 , Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 12–1 , Fábio Maldonado , TKO (punches) , The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 Finale: Miocic vs. Maldonado , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:35 , São Paulo, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 11–1 , Gabriel Gonzaga , Decision (unanimous) , UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Thomson , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Chicago, Illinois, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 , Roy Nelson , Decision (unanimous) , UFC 161 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–1 , Stefan Struve , TKO (punches) , UFC on Fuel TV: Struve vs. Miocic , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:50 , Nottingham, England , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 ,

, TKO (elbows) , UFC 146 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:14 , Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 ,

, KO (punches) , UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:43 , Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Joey Beltran , Decision (unanimous) , UFC 136 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Bobby Brents , TKO (submission to leg kicks) , NAAFS: Fight Night in the Flats 7 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:27 ,

, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , William Penn , KO (punches) , NAAFS: Caged Vengeance 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:23 ,

, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Gregory Maynard , TKO (punches) , NAAFS: Night of Champions 2010 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:43 ,

, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Jeremy Holm , KO (punches) , NAAFS: Rock N Rumble 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:36 ,

, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Paul Barry , TKO (punches) , Moosin: God of Martial Arts , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:32 , Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S. , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Corey Mullis , TKO (punches) , NAAFS: Caged Fury 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:17 ,

, U.S. , , -

Pay-per-view bouts

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miocic, Stipe 1982 births Living people American male mixed martial artists American people of Croatian descent Cleveland State Vikings baseball players Cleveland State Vikings wrestlers Trevecca Nazarene Trojans baseball players Coker University alumni Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Mixed martial artists from Ohio People from Euclid, Ohio Ultimate Fighting Championship champions American male sport wrestlers American firefighters People from Independence, Ohio Catholics from Ohio Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Paramedics