Stipe Miocic, one of the most decorated heavyweight champions in UFC history, has written his last chapter as an MMA fighter.
After briefly announcing his retirement following a loss to Jon Jones at UFC 309 last weekend, Miocic has since put out a lengthier statement confirming his exit from the sport.
“Let me start this post by saying I am good,” Miocic wrote on Instagram. “Been through a lot worse. I hope everybody enjoyed the show on Saturday. What an incredible way to go out! I started this journey fighting in local bowling alleys & ended it selling out Madison Square Garden. It truly doesn’t get better than that.”
Miocic’s MMA career kicked off back in 2008 when he fought as an amateur in the Ohio-based North American Allied Fight Series (NAAFS). After turning pro and attaining an undefeated record of six wins, he received the UFC call-up in 2011.
Despite signing a deal with the top fight promotion – a time when many begin taking up competing in MMA as a full-time career – Miocic held onto his job as a firefighter, a role he continued to maintain for the rest of his career.
Miocic spent years working his way up to a title opportunity in UFC’s heavyweight division. While he suffered setbacks against Stefan Struve and Junior dos Santos, by mid-2016 he had also racked up eight victories in the promotion and become a top contender for the belt.
At UFC 198, Miocic took a trip to Curitiba, Brazil, to challenge then-incumbent champ Fabricio Werdum. In just half a round, the brutal punches of Miocic put away Werdum, beginning a new chapter for the division.
Miocic held the heavyweight division’s title for 784 days, but more notably defended his belt three times over the course of those two years. He made quick work of Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos and also went the distance against Francis Ngannou in 2018. By the time he lost a fight to Daniel Cormier at UFC 226 via first-round stoppage, Miocic had defended the promotion’s heavyweight belt more times than anyone else.
Miocic’s 2018 loss to Cormier ended up kick-starting a trilogy in the division. The Ohio resident regained his title a year later, scoring a fourth-round stoppage against Cormier to become the fourth-ever heavyweight in UFC history to regain the belt (prior two-or-more-time heavyweight champs were Cain Velasquez, Randy Couture, and Tim Sylvia).
The third meeting between Miocic and Cormier – a 2020 five-round unanimous decision for Miocic – marked the end of their rivalry and Cormier’s career as a whole.
Miocic’s second time with the belt was more short-lived, dropping the title to Ngannou via second-round knockout in 2021. However, by the end, he recorded the most combined time as heavyweight champion, with 1,372 days.
When Miocic returned last weekend, it was his first time competing in more than three years. After getting stopped by Jones in the third round due to a flashy spinning back kick, Miocic confirmed in the cage that he was done fighting.
“To Marcus Marinelli and the Strongstyle team. We started together, we finished together. We cried together & we bled together. If people only knew the whole story of everything we have been through… we could write a pretty badass novel. There is nobody else I would have shared this journey with… the best part is that we are family forever… Marcus, I know my father has passed. But I also know he appreciates you stepping in and being the father figure I needed in my life. We had a hell of a run coach. You dedicated years of your life to me. We made history based on a dream and you had a vision. Now we have more time to drink wine and play euchre while making fun of Bobby because he is terrible at defending himself.
To my opponents, thank you all. I learned something from every single one of you. It was a honor to go to war brothers.
To my wife, you are my rock. The ship doesn’t sail without you. You sacrificed so much for this dream and I love you. God knew I needed you & you motivate me more than any one! I will miss hanging up on you on Embedded, but there’s YouTube for that 😂 To my kids, everything I have ever done is all for the two of you. To my Mom, I know this isn’t the career you would have chose for me, but you have always been in my corner since day one.. it was me & you. To my VaynerSports family, you guys are the best in the business!”
Knockdown News 