UFC 241 Cormier vs Miocic II

Captain Crunch28 said:
Dc has back surgery recently??
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Back in December to treat a bulging disc that was messing with his sciatic nerve, said its the best he's felt in years and he's quicker as a result.

Sorry to harp on about The Athletic again, but Gross posted up an article today related to his interview with DC, touched on the back surgery and its benefits in there there. Not sure whether we're allowed to post paywall articles on here (if not mods - feel free to remove rather than ban me!), I'll post it below though just as an example of the standard of writing/interviews available - well worth checking out:

https://theathletic.co.uk/1132411/2...s-of-stipe-miocics-potential-massive-mistake/

Like many stories, the arc of the first fight between Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic ends where it begins.

Following an initial surge of offense by Miocic 30 seconds into the UFC heavyweight title contest in July 2018, Cormier moved forward to tie up with the three-time defending champion and throw a heavy punch in close.

Celebrating in the octagon a few minutes later, Cormier, now a two-division UFC titleholder, said that he and his team noticed how Miocic, a record-setting mixed martial artist from Independence, Ohio, tended to carry his hands a little low when he backed out of the clinch. That’s why Comier, a walking cinderblock, opened and closed the show by looking to get inside and engage in dirty boxing.

If there were ever a man made to hit and hold, it’s “D.C.,” and the short right hand that eventually felled the 6-foot-4 firefighting UFC champ was the result of a perfect synergy between grappling and striking.

“I still can’t believe the fight went as it did, honestly,” said Cormier (22-1) a fortnight before his anticipated rematch with Miocic (18-3) on Saturday in Anaheim, Calif. “I thought there was no way I was getting out of there before 25 minutes.”

For the four-plus minutes it lasted, the contest was spirited and competitive, leaving enough space for the fighters and their respective fans to feel like both men have a real chance of winning Saturday’s UFC 241 pay-per-view headliner at Honda Center.

If the opening salvo offered a foreshadowing of the end, the second minute of the fight showed that Miocic could physically control Cormier, who was dragged to the canvas and had to fend off wrist control in unison with underhooks that allowed the taller man enough of an advantage to connect with knees.

Past the midway point of the round, however, the champ’s face showed signs that Cormier’s attack was also effective. Several jabs popped Miocic’s mouth and nose, revealing that constant forward pressure from the challenger — the first light heavyweight champ to move up and directly challenge for the belt in a weight class that tops out at 265 pounds — could pay off against a man who had been on a historic run in the UFC.

At the start of the fourth minute, Miocic pounded Cormier with a strong elbow from the left side and continued with a two-punch combination. Taking the shot gave Cormier confidence that he could stand up to the power of a man who had recently finished Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum.

“They hit me clean, and I just didn’t fall or anything,” Cormier said. “I was like, unless he gets me with something completely on the button, I feel like I’ll be OK when I get hit by him.”

“D.C.” then dropped a left-right combination (the best two punches he strung together in the fight) and followed with a jab that painted frustration across Miocic’s face and prompted the champion to reset in the center of the cage.

Cormier barely allowed the naturally bigger man any room to breathe, and he lurched forward with an open hand that seemed to swipe at the eyes. This is a moment Miocic has shied away from addressing, but replays clearly showed why a break and several admonishments aimed at Cormier by referee Marc Goddard were necessary. A relatively quick restart introduced the final minute of the first period and prompted people to forget that Miocic’s vision may have been diminished before he got knocked out.

Prior to the final sequence, they exchanged again. Miocic moved forward, and Cormier held his ground. The collision allowed Cormier to place his left hand behind Miocic’s neck before quickly dropping down that arm to secure an underhook, which slightly moved the champ’s head into the direction of an oncoming missile of a right hand.

The punch that floored Miocic — “lucky,” the loser called it — was his first sign, he joked at a press conference a year later, that something wrong had happened during a fight that officially ended at 4:33 of Round 1.

“It was a weird angle,” the former champion said of the punch on the night he lost. “What are you going to do? Game over.”

If they fought 10 times, Miocic has since said, he would win the next nine. In the ear of well-established competitor, Cormier hears a man trying to convince himself that at least some of things he believed before bumping into the 240-pound Olympic wrestler remain true.

“I think it is reassurance — making sure you maintain some of what you took into that first fight,” Cormier said. “I’m supposed to win. You’ve got hold onto something.

“I just think that’s not the best approach, not when you’re fighting with two high level mixed martial artists.

“One thing I think that would be a massive mistake is to downplay what happened in the first fight as a fluke. That’s where I think the mistake will lie. He says stuff like, ‘I’ll beat him nine out of 10 times.’ That to me is so crazy. Because I don’t believe there’s that much of a difference between him and I as martial artists. Shit, I don’t know if I could beat him nine out of 10. I just think his skill level is too high to think that you beat him 90 percent of the time. That’s crazy. And if that’s the approach they took in their training camp, they’re going to be shocked again.”

Miocic has remained coy about his tactics and game plan for the rematch. “I can’t tell you the secrets,” he informed the press this summer. “Aug. 17, you’ll find out.” Meanwhile, the current heavyweight champion is far less concerned about people knowing what he’s up to. There are few surprises from a boxer-wrestler who wants to pressure and exhaust his opponents into crumbling in front of the world.

As an analyst for UFC broadcasts on ESPN and the host of “Detail” on ESPN+, which features breakdowns of fighters’ skills and tendencies, Cormier has fine-tuned his ability to scout strengths and weaknesses and in doing so found ways to incorporate skills into his game even, if the man or women he is borrowing from carries no resemblance to himself. In middleweight Israel Adesanya, Cormier, who also coaches the Gilroy High School wrestling team in California, saw a fighter whose striking was at a level few can comprehend. The setups and tricks Adesanya uses to entice opponents into doing what he wants them to do, especially on the inside, is an area Cormier has learned from. This ability to find small areas of improvement following back surgery in December that repaired a bulging disk that impinged on his sciatic nerve has Cormier, 40, feeling as good as he has in years. That means more speed from perhaps the fastest heavyweight already in the game, improved agility, and the expectation of continued success.

“I think that’s where he ran into issues,” Cormier said of the 36-year-old Miocic. “He’s used to being the more athletic guy, and I don’t think he is in the fight with me. When we’re trading I’m hitting him much more than he’s hitting me. That’s difficult for a guy to understand because, again, I’ve been on the opposite side of that. I’m usually a guy that’s pressing. Even in the fights I lost, I’m the guy that’s pressing. But in pressing I was getting more fatigued whereas normally the other guys are the ones that get fatigued. I felt it.”

Facing a rejuvenated Miocic driven by the thought of avenging the 2018 loss and winning for his year-old daughter after being out of the cage for 13 months, “I understand he’s going to get better,” Cormier said. “But when I think about the fight and the little bit of time we fought before, I don’t think he’s good enough to beat me.

“When I lost my first fight, I had 25 minutes of footage to try to see where I needed to be better. I had a full fight of where I make those improvements. In this case, with Miocic, he’s got five minutes of a very close fight — we were both having some success — to try to build from. For me that would be scary. If I’m part of Team Miocic, we have to kind of go based on the same thing we did in the first fight. They only got four minutes of actual footage. It’s a bit of a tough spot.”
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When has Nate ever sounded good in an interview? Lol
 
theTKDguy said:
Sounds worse than usual imo. Doesn't matter much tho
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Who knows, we could look back after the fight and say, "damn he looked and sounded rough in that interview, he should have just hung them up".

But to use it now as a lean towards Pettis wouldn't be a smart move, he's always sounded like Walt Jr.
 
as someone backing pettis that interview with Nate is at least a neutral freeroll. Maybe a sign of damage/lifestyle. I am far from an expert with the brain but as someone who played some linebacker i do know that CTE and signs of this also come from purely age not just recent damage. So while diaz might have not taken too much damage training the last 3 years. A lifetime of being such a warrior could be starting to become apparent now. At age 34 i wouldnt be surprised if his chin might not be the same. In fear of him reading this, he might have always sounded a little rough and put a beating on wheaties like max did against ortega after slurring a little bit previously. That being said i bet his big brother nick has given him more concussions as a kid than most fighters suffer in a lifetime before he even turned pro. I love diaz, the way he fights and everything about his heart but as the years tick by its harder and harder to bet on unknown situations where a guy has to walk through hell just to have a path to victory.
 
Keeping my 2 units on Diaz, same logic with my Perry bet I think he will fight harder for my money. Maybe its just a fade on Pettis more than anything, but if Nate makes it competitive he could get that California love on the cards.
 
Any CTE Nate has I'm sure Pettis has it just as much, he's been in plenty of wars himself. Nate is just a mumble fuck on top of that.

I think both guys get smoked by the new wave coming up
 
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Max Holloway was even money against Ortega because of some weird interview (and a couple other things, sure, but mainly that interview). Look how that turned out.
 
there will be a draw on this card, I'm just not sure which fight, obvious possibilities nate/ pettis..cormier/ stipe..brunson/heinisch..romero/ costa.. and benitez/ sodiq
 
hawk77 said:
as someone backing pettis that interview with Nate is at least a neutral freeroll. Maybe a sign of damage/lifestyle. I am far from an expert with the brain but as someone who played some linebacker i do know that CTE and signs of this also come from purely age not just recent damage. So while diaz might have not taken too much damage training the last 3 years. A lifetime of being such a warrior could be starting to become apparent now. At age 34 i wouldnt be surprised if his chin might not be the same. In fear of him reading this, he might have always sounded a little rough and put a beating on wheaties like max did against ortega after slurring a little bit previously. That being said i bet his big brother nick has given him more concussions as a kid than most fighters suffer in a lifetime before he even turned pro. I love diaz, the way he fights and everything about his heart but as the years tick by its harder and harder to bet on unknown situations where a guy has to walk through hell just to have a path to victory.
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I don't think most people realize how much damage he took in the last Conor fight, I remember watching it over again and being like holy shit....Conor clocked him so many times and he just ate everything (aside from getting dropped 3 times). I also remember him slurring pretty bad in the post fight interview

Its tough to tell with him though because hes always had a kind of dopey way of talking. I don't think its at a point where it will negatively affect him in upcoming fights but probably not great 5-10 years down the line
 
hawk77 said:
as someone backing pettis that interview with Nate is at least a neutral freeroll. Maybe a sign of damage/lifestyle. I am far from an expert with the brain but as someone who played some linebacker i do know that CTE and signs of this also come from purely age not just recent damage. So while diaz might have not taken too much damage training the last 3 years. A lifetime of being such a warrior could be starting to become apparent now. At age 34 i wouldnt be surprised if his chin might not be the same. In fear of him reading this, he might have always sounded a little rough and put a beating on wheaties like max did against ortega after slurring a little bit previously. That being said i bet his big brother nick has given him more concussions as a kid than most fighters suffer in a lifetime before he even turned pro. I love diaz, the way he fights and everything about his heart but as the years tick by its harder and harder to bet on unknown situations where a guy has to walk through hell just to have a path to victory.
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I wouldn't say walking through hell is his only option, but if it goes into deep waters my money is anywhere but Pettis. Even the Wonder Boy fight. I love WB but his defense isn't the greatest and seems to involve alot of range control I think Pettis planned to time and counter since WB has his hands by his side half the time. Even if he trys the Homer Simpson approach maybe Pettis breaks his hand on that brick of a head. Anothony looks like he'd fight ya for a Showtime moment Nate looks like he'd fight ya behind McDonald's for half a big mac
 
matthew55 said:
there will be a draw on this card, I'm just not sure which fight, obvious possibilities nate/ pettis..cormier/ stipe..brunson/heinisch..romero/ costa.. and benitez/ sodiq
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How exactly and why?
 
matthew55 said:
there will be a draw on this card, I'm just not sure which fight, obvious possibilities nate/ pettis..cormier/ stipe..brunson/heinisch..romero/ costa.. and benitez/ sodiq
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Doubt it'll happen in the title fight. Romero vs Costa makes me think somebodys gonna have trouble drawing breath from the canvas, just my thoughts.
 
hawk77 said:
as someone backing pettis that interview with Nate is at least a neutral freeroll. Maybe a sign of damage/lifestyle. I am far from an expert with the brain but as someone who played some linebacker i do know that CTE and signs of this also come from purely age not just recent damage. So while diaz might have not taken too much damage training the last 3 years. A lifetime of being such a warrior could be starting to become apparent now. At age 34 i wouldnt be surprised if his chin might not be the same. In fear of him reading this, he might have always sounded a little rough and put a beating on wheaties like max did against ortega after slurring a little bit previously. That being said i bet his big brother nick has given him more concussions as a kid than most fighters suffer in a lifetime before he even turned pro. I love diaz, the way he fights and everything about his heart but as the years tick by its harder and harder to bet on unknown situations where a guy has to walk through hell just to have a path to victory.
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I'd be concerned about his age if he hadn't taken 3 years off. Longest layoff of his career, much needed too.

Let's just hope he hasn't taken too much damage in the gym. His face looks busted up, so on one hand it's good because he's been sparring and staying active.

But if he regularly takes beatings like that in the gym, the 3 year layoff may not mean much.
 
I think current Pettis is getting somewhat over rated because of the WB KO. Pettis hasn't looked good for a while, he's competitive for a round and then he's pretty much done.

He might have adjusted more to WW now so the cardio might be okay but he's definitely a LW and if he beats Diaz he will get fucked up by most other guys at WW
 
matthew55 said:
probably pettis 10-8 in the first, nate next 2 rounds
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1. I'd struggle to see how Pettis puts 10-8 round beating on Diaz.

2. Anytime you or I have actually scored a fight a draw (I've personally scored quite a few this year), when have judges actually given it/scored it correctly?

Even in 10-10 rounds at least 2 judges will just choose one of the fighters because they feel they have to.
 
I'll be in South Lake Tahoe with my family this weekend, definitely putting in some bets.

I think I'm going Cormier, Pettis, Romero for now. These are all some really close fights.
 
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