Stipe Miocic
The firefighter who set the heavyweight defense record
- Born
- August 19, 1982, Euclid, Ohio, US
- Nationality
United States
Croatia- Height
- 193 cm (6′4″)
- Reach
- 203 cm (6′8″)
- Stance
- Orthodox
- Style
- Heavyweight boxer-wrestler
- Weight
- Heavyweight
- Active
- 2010–2024
- Status
- Retired · age 44
The record
Professional MMA. record
The story
tipe Miocic became a two-time UFC heavyweight champion while working as a firefighter and paramedic. A Cleveland Golden Gloves champion and NCAA Division I wrestler at Cleveland State, he blended boxing and wrestling. He knocked out Fabrício Werdum in 2016 to win the title, then stopped Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos and outpointed Francis Ngannou, setting the UFC record of three straight heavyweight title defenses. Daniel Cormier knocked him out in 2018, but Miocic stopped him in their 2019 rematch and beat him again in 2020, raising his total to four defenses, another division record. Ngannou took the belt in 2021, and after losing to Jon Jones in 2024 Miocic retired with 15 knockouts among his 20 wins.
- UFC heavyweight champion (2 reigns, 4 successful defenses, a division record)
- Cleveland Golden Gloves champion (2009)
- International Sports Hall of Fame (2022)
- Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame (2025)
Defining fights
- 2016WINvs Fabrício Werdum (KO R1, won UFC heavyweight title)
- 2016WINvs Alistair Overeem (KO R1, title defense)
- 2018WINvs Francis Ngannou (UD, record third straight defense)
- 2019WINvs Daniel Cormier (TKO R4, regained title)
- 2021LOSSvs Francis Ngannou (KO R2, lost title)
Pair your boxing with a wrestling threat: jab and move to set the range, and once opponents start worrying about the takedown, land the punches. Boxing and wrestling students can run rounds that mix footwork and the jab with level-change feints.
