Kemo
07-03-2018, 02:06 PM
It took a while for the UFC to get behind their heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic for a decent promotional push, but they finally seem to have embraced the idea.
This was a thorn in Miocic’s side as recently as his last fight, as he became the most successful heavyweight champion in UFC history when he successfully defended his strap for a record-breaking third consecutive time against Francis Ngannou.
Prior to their match-up at UFC 220 in Boston earlier this year, the promotion seemed to be focusing a lot of their promotion around the young French challenger instead of their part-time firefighting champion.
Now, Miocic is getting set to partake in the biggest fight of his MMA career. He’ll defend his heavyweight crown against UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. Should Cormier prove successful on July 7th he’ll become the second fighter in UFC history to hold two titles in separate weight classes simultaneously.
Miocic finds himself on a huge platform on International Fight Week and is also extremely pleased with his paycheck for the UFC 226 bout:
“Dana and I, we talked that stuff out and it worked out great,” Miocic said.
He was then asked if his payday against Cormier would be the biggest of his career. His response was simple: “100 percent.”
Miocic has received a lot more push from the UFC in recent months. He coached opposite Cormier on The Ultimate Fighter 27 (TUF 27) and also starred in a Modelo commercial that received a good chunk of air time during the NBA and NHL playoffs (and still airs regularly today).
The Cleveland native said he understands why it took so long for the UFC to get behind him promotion wise, especially throughout their transition after the UFC sale several years ago:
“A lot has changed,” Miocic said. “I think it had a lot to do with the change in the company too, they were stuck in their transition. I’m just, I was stuck when they sold the company, they were looking for what’s good for them, but I understand that.
“They spent a lot of money, they spent four billion dollars it’s not like ‘ahh, sure guys.’ it’s a little bit different than that. They made it right and it was all good.”
This was a thorn in Miocic’s side as recently as his last fight, as he became the most successful heavyweight champion in UFC history when he successfully defended his strap for a record-breaking third consecutive time against Francis Ngannou.
Prior to their match-up at UFC 220 in Boston earlier this year, the promotion seemed to be focusing a lot of their promotion around the young French challenger instead of their part-time firefighting champion.
Now, Miocic is getting set to partake in the biggest fight of his MMA career. He’ll defend his heavyweight crown against UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. Should Cormier prove successful on July 7th he’ll become the second fighter in UFC history to hold two titles in separate weight classes simultaneously.
Miocic finds himself on a huge platform on International Fight Week and is also extremely pleased with his paycheck for the UFC 226 bout:
“Dana and I, we talked that stuff out and it worked out great,” Miocic said.
He was then asked if his payday against Cormier would be the biggest of his career. His response was simple: “100 percent.”
Miocic has received a lot more push from the UFC in recent months. He coached opposite Cormier on The Ultimate Fighter 27 (TUF 27) and also starred in a Modelo commercial that received a good chunk of air time during the NBA and NHL playoffs (and still airs regularly today).
The Cleveland native said he understands why it took so long for the UFC to get behind him promotion wise, especially throughout their transition after the UFC sale several years ago:
“A lot has changed,” Miocic said. “I think it had a lot to do with the change in the company too, they were stuck in their transition. I’m just, I was stuck when they sold the company, they were looking for what’s good for them, but I understand that.
“They spent a lot of money, they spent four billion dollars it’s not like ‘ahh, sure guys.’ it’s a little bit different than that. They made it right and it was all good.”