Three days before the rematch against DC, Miocic shows confidence in victory: 'I will have my belt back'

S. Miocic (photo) with his old belt. Photo: Reproduction/Twitter @ufc_brasil

The heavyweight belt (up to 120,2kg) will be put on the line again this Saturday (17th), at UFC 241. At the event, the former title holder, Stipe Miocic, will try to regain his position, lost in July last year, when he was defeated by Daniel Cormier. On that occasion, Miocic was defeated by knockout in the first round, however, for this weekend's fight, he guarantees that he will not make the same mistakes as in the last fight. The statement was made in a recent interview with 'Combate'.

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“You certainly train differently, work on your weaknesses, your strengths. I did a lot of things differently, I hope everything works out in the end. I don't know (how much he's changed). Let's find out. Maybe he has changed, maybe not. I don't care what he does. I will do what I know how to do and I will win this fight”, declared Stipe.

Miocic revealed surprise when told he would have an opportunity to regain his old belt. After beating Miocic, Daniel and the UFC formed a kind of 'task force' to hold a super fight in which DC and the former champion, Brock Lesnar, away from MMA since July 2016, when he faced Mark Hunt. During the negotiation period, Cormier even defended his belt when he faced and beat the giant Derrick Lewis, in November last year. After his first defense, the priority was to fight against the WWE (wrestling) star. Negotiations, however, dragged on and the parties were unable to reach a price that would convince Lesnar to return to mixed martial arts. When the negotiations were officially closed, the UFC board acted quickly and scheduled Miocic's dream rematch against his last tormentor. In the meantime, Stipe remained inactive within competitions.

“(During the period at a standstill) I enjoyed life. My daughter was born and I was able to enjoy it a lot. I tried to let my body and mind rest and digest everything. It was great, it was really good. I didn't believe (that there would be a rematch), I didn't really know what to expect. I thought it was a joke. I had no idea, but I was really happy when it finally worked out, really. We are here and I will finally have my belt back”, said the former champion.

Both for this and for the last meeting between the heavyweights, there were no provocations from either side. Daniel, who is also well known for his discussions with his eternal rival, Jon Jones, respected Stipe on all occasions, leaving issues to be resolved only inside the octagon. Stipe followed the same strategy.

“I think every fight is personal, but it's also about business. At the same time, I don't care what anyone thinks. I'm going to go in there, I'm going to win the fight, I'm going to leave there with the belt around my waist”, concluded the fighter.

This Saturday, Miocic will make his 22nd commitment as a professional fighter. The athlete has 18 triumphs and only three defeats in his career; one of them for Brazilian junior gypsyIn 2014.

Cormier, in turn, will be fighting in his 25th fight. The athlete has 22 victories, one defeat and one duel without result.

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