Stipe Miocic

At 42 years old, Stipe Miocic has this physical status:

Stipe Miocic (born August 19, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist and Firefighter-Paramedic.

He is currently signed to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he competes in the heavyweight division and is the two-time and current UFC Heavyweight Champion.

During his first reign, he successfully defended his championship three times, holding the record for most consecutive successful title defenses in the history of the UFC heavyweight division.

Furthermore, Miocic holds the record for fight-night bonus awards, with nine, the most in the UFC heavyweight division's history.Miocic is widely regarded as the one of the greatest heavyweights in the history of the MMA.

Also, he is considered by some to be the best heavyweight fighter in the history of the UFC.

A former Golden Gloves boxing champion and NCAA Division I wrestler at Cleveland State University, Stipe's strengths are his combination of high level boxing ability and elite level wrestling.

As of August 20, 2019, he is #4 in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings.

Early life

He was born and raised in Euclid, Ohio, on August 19, 1982, the son of Croatian immigrants Kathy and Bojan Miocic (Croatian: Miočić, pronounced [mîotʃitɕ];). His father originates from Rtina, 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 football and wrestled while at Eastlake North High School. He received interest from Major League Baseball teams during his collegiate years at Cleveland State University and Trevecca Nazarene University. 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's baseball team, he hit .344 with seven home runs in his senior year and helped the Trojans win the 2005 TranSouth Athletic Conference 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.

Personal life

Miocic works as a part-time firefighter paramedic in Oakwood and Valley View, Ohio. 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.

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Mixed martial arts career

He was brought as a training buddy to compete with Dan Bobish in Independence, Ohio, during his school days. Miocic, who played various sports (wrestling and baseball), was able to return to school with them after finishing his paramedic training at Cuyahoga Community College. He started out in mixed martial arts but soon transitioned to boxing. Marcus Marinelli, his head coach, recalled that although he had only been training for a few months, he was beating boxers with much greater knowledge. Miocic began his MMA career by winning his first six battles by knockout after only eight months of preparation with a dream to be a Cleveland Golden Gloves boxing champion (reaching quarter-finals in the nationals), and a NCAA Division I wrestler at Cleveland State. He began fighting for NAAFS (an Ohio-based MMA promotion), where he eventually won the NAAFS Heavyweight Championship.

Miocic had signed a multi-fight contract with the UFC on June 14, 2011.

Miocic made his UFC debut against Joey Beltran on October 8, 2011, at UFC 136, and defeated the fight by unanimous vote (29–28, 30–27, and 29–28).

On February 15, 2012, Miocic met Phil De Fries at UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger. Miocic won the fight via first-round KO and received a "Knockout of the Night" award in the process.

Shane del Rosario, a newcomer, took on Miocic at UFC 146 on May 26, 2012. In the second round, he gained by TKO (elbows).

At UFC on Fuel TV 5, Miocic met Stefan Struve on September 29, 2012. In the second round, he lost via TKO. Both participants received "Fight of the Night" awards for their efforts.

On June 15, 2013, Miocic was supposed to meet returning veteran Soa Palelei at UFC 161. The card was marginally altered following Renan Barao's injury. Miocic was paired with Roy Nelson. Miocic, a major betting underdog, defeated Nelson by a unanimous vote (30–27, 30–27, and 30–27).

At UFC on Fox 10, Miocic met Gabriel Gonzaga on January 25, 2014. He was given the fight by a unanimous vote (30–27, 30–27, and 29–28).

Miocic was supposed to face Junior dos Santos at UFC 173. However, the match was postponed a little, and it was scheduled to take place a week later at The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 Finale on May 31, 2014. Dos Santos pulled out of the competition on May 5, 2014, citing a hand injury and being replaced by Fábio Maldonado. Miocic won the first round by TKO thanks to punches early in the first round, and she was awarded a "Perception of the Night" bonus as well.

On December 13, 2014, a rescheduled bout with dos Santos took place as the main event at UFC on Fox 13. Miocic was defeated by a unanimous decision in the back-and-forth contest. Both participants were given "Fight of the Night" awards for their efforts.

At UFC Fight Night 65, Miocic met Mark Hunt on May 10, 2015. In the fifth round, Miocic won the one-sided match via TKO. Miocic was in front on all three scorecards (40–36, 41–35, and 40–34), at the time of the suspension. Miocic set a UFC record for the most strikes landed in a fight and also the widest strike margin, defeating Hunt 361-48 over the course of the match.

At UFC Fight Night 76, Miocic was supposed to face Ben Rothwell on October 24, 2015. Miocic was forced to leave the fight on October 13 due to a back injury. Rothwell was suspended from the card the following day after the promotion determined that no suitable substitute could be found on short notice. Miocic was quickly rebooked and meet Andrei Arlovski in a title eliminator at UFC 195 on January 2, 2016. In the first round, Miocic defeated Arlovski by TKO at 0:54. In addition, his win earned him his second "Perception of the Night" bonus award.

On February 6, 2016, Miocic was supposed to repair Cain Velasquez and face Fabrcio Werdum for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Werdum withdrew the fight on January 25, 2016, the day after this announcement, was forced to leave the match due to a back injury.

Miocic eventually met Werdum at UFC 198 on May 14, 2016. Werdum stopped Werdum with a short right hook tackle while backpedaling away from a flurry of punches in the first round, winning the trophy and giving Werdum his first loss since June 2011. He was also given a Prize of the Night.

Miocic was defending his first title defense at UFC 203 against Alistair Overeem on September 10, 2016. Despite being knocked down early in the fight, he bounced back quickly and won via knockout in the first round. Both participants were given Fight of the Night awards.

Miocic served his second title defense against Junior dos Santos on May 13, 2017, in a rematch at UFC 211. Dos Santos vs. Miocic in 2014 in a close unanimous decision at UFC on Fox: dos Santos Santos vs. Miocic in 2014. However, Miocic got off to a good start this year and took over the octagon early. Miocic landed hard punches to the shin, dropping dos Santos, but he then went to win the first round by TKO midway. Miocic also received his fourth Performance of the Night award for his work during the night.

At UFC 220, Miocic met Francis Ngannou on January 20, 2018. The match was supposed to be one of the most exciting in UFC history, but Miocic openly felt disobeyed because he never received the same amount of promotion and assistance from UFC as Ngannou did. Following takedowns, Miocic dominated Ngannou for five rounds, winning unanimously and smashing the record for most consecutive title defenses in the heavyweight championship. Marcus Marinelli, the winner, took the belt from Dana White instead of the usual routine and had his coach Marcus Marinelli turn it around him. Miocic was lauded by both President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovie and Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovi.

Miocic met UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier in the main event at UFC 226 on July 7, 2018. "The Superfight" was billed for the champion vs. champion matchup. Miocic was the most favored going into the bout, mainly due to his physical appearance and power advantage, as well as his dangerous striking on the feet. In the first round, he lost the match by knockout, snapping his title reign. Cormier was warned repeatedly by referee Marc Goddard for extending his fingers into Miocic's face and poking him in the eye.

On August 17, 2019, a rematch between Miocic and Daniel Cormier took place at UFC 241 in the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Miocic won the fight by TKO in the fourth round after landing several clean left hooks to the body and then throwing punches to the head, reclaiming the title. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award. Miocic will not return to action until 2020 after being injured in the eye by Cormier's mistakenly poking him in the eye during the war.

Miocic and Cormier's triple bout was confirmed on June 9, 2020, and it was set to take place at UFC 252 on August 15, 2020. Miocic was voted to win by a majority vote, this time with both fighters getting eye pokes during the fight.

In a rematch on March 27, 2021, Miocic defeated Francis Ngannou in a rematch at UFC 260. In the second round, he lost the match and the title by getting knocked out.

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