Stipe Miocic proved to be the best heavyweight in UFC by beating Daniel Cormier on points in an incredible rubber match to end a legendary trilogy between the pair.
Miocic and Cormier were arguably fighting to decide who was the UFC's greatest ever heavyweight, with both men having understandable claims to the moniker after their first two fights.
The first round was intense as both men looked to land the early advantage. Miocic was moving well and managing to land shots.
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As the round went on though Cormier grew into it and managed to land some better shots, often after he went for a clinch.
Unfortunately, like the previous fights, the first round was muddied by a finger poke to the eye from DC.
The challenger dominated much of the second round and was keeping the distance with a combination of jabs and kicks, with the former often being followed up by calf kicks.
However the fight was turned on its head late in the round as the champ landed some huge shots that took his opponent to the mat.
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Miocic got on top of Cormier and landed more big shots, with the former champion being partially saved by the end of the round.
'Stone Cold' was unsurprisingly the aggressor at the beginning of the third but much of the middle of the round was spent in a clinch, which helped DC get a breather.
He recovered to have stronger ending to the round but Miocic landed a finger poke to the eye right at the end of the round, which the referee missed and claimed it was a clean punch.
Cormier could be heard saying he couldn't see ahead of the fourth but he still managed to land some very good shots of his own as the fight went into the championship rounds.
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Once again the champ was able to get the better of the final round as he wrapped his challenger up in a clinch and spent much of the five minutes in charge.
Both men had a claim to the GOAT title ahead of the rubber fight. DC moved up as light heavyweight champion in July 2018 to take on Miocic at UFC 226. In his debut at heavyweight he won the fight by stopping the champ in the first round to become a two weight champion and became the first man to take that step up as champ to win the heavier belt.
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After one defence against Derrick Lewis, Cormier defended his title in the rematch just over a year later against Miocic at UFC 241.
The champ dominated the early rounds but this time it was the former champion who reclaimed his title with a fourth round stoppage.
As a two time champion, the man with the most title defences at heavyweight and the man who beat the man who beat him, not once but twice, there is now little question as to who is the GOAT of the heavyweight division.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Stipe Miocic, Daniel Cormier, UFC News, MMA News, UFC, MMA, UFC 252
