5. UFC 221: Miocic vs Cormier
In 2018, double-champ fatigue was beginning to be a real concept. Many of the instances in recent years involved stars in exciting match-ups but who entered their super-fights without long title reigns. As such, the matches were starting to lose their luster as they felt like over-hyped matches rather than true tests of established dominance.
That changed at UFC 221 when two of the most dominant champions of the last decade collided in the cage. Stipe Miocic was entering the bout with victories over the biggest stars in the division and had a case as the best heavyweight champion of all-time. Daniel Cormier had turned away several of the top names at light heavyweight but the glaring shadow of Jon Jones loomed over his reign. On paper the two were evenly matched going in and that only escalated as the fight drew closer. In a twist of irony, the two even ended up with a draw in their season of The Ultimate Fighter with both men having a winner in the finale.
For all the hype, the bout ended quickly. Despite a tough start from Miocic, Cormier was able to deliver heavy damage at close-range and stopped the heavyweight champion to become only the third two-division champion in UFC history. For all the criticism surrounding his light-heavyweight championship, it was a legacy defining moment for Cormier to claim a title untouched by the shadow of his arch-nemesis. Today, he has turned that status into a prolific broadcasting career as one of the UFC’s top commentators and two programs on ESPN including the late Kobe Bryant produced series Detail.
The weekend had plenty of highlights, but none was more memorable (or longingly forgettable) as the co-main event between Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis. The fight was highly anticipated and everyone predicted that their match-up would provide more fireworks than any that would be seen in the sky during the week. Instead, the two did not engage with each other for the entire fifteen minutes and the fight wend down as one of the biggest let-downs in MMA history.
Miocic and Cormier will meet for a third time in August to settle their rivalry once and for all. Current middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (who fought the night before Miocic and Cormier) and Paulo Costa (who fought on the UFC 221 undercard) are also set to collide in a highly anticipated match-up that will see two undefeated fighters compete for the world title for only the second time in UFC history.
