Stipe Miocic: Cleveland’s two-time UFC heavyweight champion | Ultimate Fighter Reunion

Why fans still care

STIPE MIOCIC is often named in the argument over the greatest UFC heavyweight. He won the title twice, defended it four times, and did it while working as a firefighter and paramedic near Cleveland.

He came back from a first-round knockout to beat Daniel Cormier twice, and his body-shot finish at UFC 241 is still studied.

Early life

He was born on 19 August 1982 in Euclid, Ohio, to Croatian immigrants Kathy and Bojan. His parents divorced when he was a toddler and his mother raised him. At school he earned eight varsity letters in baseball, football and wrestling. He wrestled at Cleveland State, where he qualified for the NCAA tournament, and later played baseball at Trevecca Nazarene, batting .344 in his senior season. Scouts watched, but no offers came.

Getting started

While working and studying to be a paramedic, he joined the Strong Style gym in Independence, Ohio, as a wrestling partner for the former UFC fighter Dan Bobish. The owner, Marcus Marinelli, moved him into boxing, and after about six or seven months he won the 2009 Cleveland Golden Gloves and reached the national quarter-finals. Marinelli then steered him to MMA. He won five amateur fights, all in the first round, and on 20 February 2010 he turned professional with a 17-second TKO of Corey Mullis.

Career chapters

1. 2010Turns professional with a 17-second win
2. 2011UFC debut, a decision over Joey Beltran
3. 2015Lands 361 strikes on Mark Hunt in Adelaide, a UFC record at the time
4. 2016Knocks out Fabricio Werdum in Brazil to win the UFC heavyweight title
5. 2018Third defence, against Francis Ngannou, then loses the title to Daniel Cormier
6. 2019Wins the title back from Cormier
7. 2020Fourth defence, a record, in the Cormier trilogy
8. 2024Last fight, against Jon Jones, then retires

Into the UFC 2011 to 2015

He made his UFC debut at UFC 136 on 8 October 2011 with a unanimous decision over Joey Beltran. His first loss came in Nottingham in September 2012, a second-round TKO by Stefan Struve. In December 2014 he lost a five-round decision to Junior dos Santos, Who’s Who number 15, and both of those losses won Fight of the Night. In May 2015 in Adelaide he stopped Mark Hunt in the fifth round, landing 361 total strikes to 46, a UFC single-fight record at the time.

Champion 2016 to 2018

On 14 May 2016 at UFC 198 in Curitiba he met the champion, Fabricio Werdum, in Werdum’s home country. Werdum rushed in, Miocic landed a right hand, and it was over at 2:47 of the first round. “Cleveland, we got a champion,” he said. He knocked out Alistair Overeem, Who’s Who number 2 in the first round at UFC 203 in Cleveland, then stopped Junior dos Santos, Who’s Who number 15 in the first round at UFC 211. On 20 January 2018 in Boston, as the underdog, he took Francis Ngannou, Who’s Who number 5 down six times and won 50-44 on all three cards, the first UFC heavyweight to make three successful defences. On 7 July 2018 Daniel Cormier knocked him out in the first round at UFC 226 and took the title.

Cormier again 2019 to 2020

On 17 August 2019 at UFC 241 in Anaheim he trailed Cormier on all three judges’ cards after three rounds. In the fourth he went to the body with left hooks, hurt Cormier with a jab and right cross against the cage, and the referee stopped it at 4:09. The team had drilled body shots for years, but Marinelli said Miocic made the call in the fight. A year later, on 15 August 2020 at UFC 252 in Las Vegas, he dropped Cormier in the second round and won a unanimous decision. It was his fourth defence, a UFC heavyweight record, and his sixth win in heavyweight title fights, level with Randy Couture, Who’s Who number 27.

Last fights 2021 to 2024

On 27 March 2021 at UFC 260 Francis Ngannou, Who’s Who number 5 knocked him out in the second round and took the title. After more than three years out, he fought Jon Jones, Who’s Who number 44 (story coming soon) for the title at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden on 16 November 2024 and lost by TKO in the third round. In the cage afterwards he said, “I’m done.”

Style, technique and the corner

How he fights

He fought from an orthodox stance as a wrestling-based all-rounder, a college wrestler who added boxing through the Golden Gloves. His counter right hand finished Werdum, and his left hook to the body turned the Cormier rematch. He used his wrestling to control fights: six takedowns against Ngannou, and six of eight against Hunt with 57 significant ground strikes. He was strong late in fights: against Hunt he won the fifth round 70 strikes to none. He lists shoot fighting, boxing and Muay Thai as his favourite styles.

Teams and gyms

His gym is Strong Style in Independence, Ohio, under the owner and head coach Marcus Marinelli. Arman Loktev worked the pads with him in 2016. In March 2015, on his first visit to Croatia, he trained in Zagreb with Mirko Cro Cop.

Stories people still tell

1. The firefighter champion.

   He was a part-time firefighter and paramedic when he won the title in 2016. After his last fight he said he would carry on full-time in Oakwood and Valley View, Ohio.

2. The Golden Gloves.

   He won the 2009 Cleveland Golden Gloves after about six or seven months of boxing, according to his coach.

3. For his daughter.

   After the trilogy win in 2020 he said he fought “to show my daughter that hard work pays off.”

Legacy

He retired with four title defences, two reigns and a place in the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame, inducted in December 2025. He was inducted into the Croatian American Sports Hall of Fame on 24 October 2026 in Eastlake, Ohio. Before UFC 252, former champions argued his case against Fedor Emelianenko, Who’s Who number 40 for the greatest heavyweight. That argument is still open.