UFC heavyweight contender and former champion Junior dos Santos made his first and only appearance inside the Octagon in 2014, looking to bounce back from another devastating loss to Cain Velasquez. Opposite from him in the UFC on Fox 13 main event in Phoenix, Arizona was Ohio’s Stipe Miocic, in a position to record the biggest win of his carer and a possible title shot.
Both men traded heavy leather in the opening round, keeping an active pace (for heavyweights), with Miocic tagging JDS repeatedly with right hands but unable to get the takedown. Dos Santos caught Miocic with a pair of left hooks to end the round, which Miocic likely edged through better accuracy and aggression.
Miocic cut up dos Santos in the 2nd round and was able to land on JDS with punches as the former champ was circling away from him. JDS found success to the body and cracked Miocic with his vaunted right hand. Miocic ended the round with a key takedown after failing on his previous 6 attempts. Stipe remained the aggressor and was able to back Junior up against the cage to land his best punches and hurt him several times.
Another takedown by Miocic nearly turned into disaster as JDS briefly was on top and tried to take his back, but Miocic was able to get back to his feet. Dos Santos decked Miocic with a left hook and he tried finishing the fight with hammerfists, but it was clear that Miocic’s pace had slowed post-knockdown. It was a clear 3rd for JDS, who was almost exclusively boxing.
Miocic appeared to swing the momentum of the fight his way as he tagged Junior repeatedly with right hands and was able to catch him in big exchanges and bloody him up. Junior scored a beautiful takedown in the final minute of the 4th round and landed a combo against the fence as the horn sounded.
Round 5 was predominantly a JDS round. He found a home for his big right hand and continued to drill Miocic to the body, but Miocic came on strong towards the final 2 minutes, particularly with his right hand. The crowd applauded the efforts of both men who continued to swing away until the end in this terrific fight.
Official Result: Junior dos Santos def. Stipe Miocic via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)
Dos Santos(17-3) avoids the first losing streak of his career, although there will be plenty of discussion about the two 49-46 cards, let alone whether or not he won the fight. Stipe Miocic (12-2) goes the full five rounds for the first time in his career and put on his best showing to date, but it was in a losing effort.
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