There’s no denying that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic had an incredible career in the sport of MMA. Whenever the Westlake (OH) firefighter took time out from battling blazes to battle in the famed Octagon, Northeast Ohio, as well as the world over, would be watching on any given Saturday night.
Since 2022, Miocic has been working full-time at the firehouse and even worked shifts as a fireman during training camps in the past. While his commitment to both the Valley View (OH) Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter and to the Westlake Fire Department as a full-time firefighter is no doubt commendable, Stipe Miocic’s commitment inside the cage during his 18-year career, counting professional and amateur fights, is equally impressive.
Stipe Miocic, From Academic Scholar to Fighter
His work ethic is unchallenged, stemming from an academic background. After being equal parts athlete and scholar in high school, Miocic attended Cleveland State University.
During his time there, he flourished in the Marketing and Communications program. It’s no wonder that the Croatian excels at fan engagement. In his tenure at Cleveland State University, the college paper writing service industry was thriving across the country, but AI was not yet prevalent. He got by on the hard work instilled by his parents.
Along the way through his time as a competitor, Miocic has had an array of memorable moments inside the cage. Today, we take a look at a few of them.
Stipe Miocic’s Memorable MMA Moments: Miocic Collects First UFC Win
Back in 2011, after securing a 6-0 record on the regional circuit, including a 5-0 mark under the North American Allied Fight Series (NAAFS) promotional banner, Stipe Miocic got the call that would change his career in combat sports forever. On Oct. 8, 2011, Miocic would make his first career appearance in the UFC.
That night, he’d draw Joey Beltran (18-15, 1 NC MMA, 3-6, 1 NC UFC) for his maiden voyage in Dana White’s promotion on the undercard of UFC 136 from Toyota Center in Houston on what’s now known as Paramount Network. While Miocic didn’t get the win inside the distance like in the six bouts that preceded his UFC promotional debut in the fall of 2011, he completed four takedowns out of seven attempts and landed 103 strikes on the evening.
After 15 minutes, Stipe Miocic got his hand raised in victory (unanimous decision: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28) to begin a storied tenure in the UFC at 7-0 for his career.
Stipe Miocic’s Memorable MMA Moments: Miocic Gets on Main Card, Scores Big Win
It didn’t take Miocic too long to get himself booked on the main card of a UFC event. In just his second UFC promotional appearance, he made the walk during that portion of the show for the first time during UFC on FUEL TV from Omaha, NE.
On Feb. 15, 2012, the crowd inside CenturyLink Center got treated to a fight pitting Stipe Miocic against Phil De Fries (26-6 MMA, 2-3 UFC). Although scheduled for three rounds, Miocic only needed a fraction of the time to complete the assignment.
After being stunned with a right hand, he responded with one of his own, dropping De Fries to the cage mat and finishing him with a flurry of ground and pound to run his record to 8-0.
“…And that, folks, is a good-looking UFC heavyweight,” remarked Jon Anik, who was working as the blow-by-blow commentator that night on FUEL TV. For his efforts, Miocic picked up his first Performance of the Night Bonus.
Stipe Miocic’s Memorable MMA Moments: Miocic Bests Nelson on PPV
Miocic’s rise to the top at 265 only continued from there, and he’d soon appear on pay-per-view main cards. In June of 2013, he was booked to face off against Roy Nelson (23-19 MMA, 9-10 UFC) during the UFC 161 co-main event from Winnipeg. This was a noteworthy appearance for him, since it was the first time that he’d be coming off a defeat in his career, with his record at 9-1 on fight night.
While the scorecards were again needed here, Stipe Miocic turned this bout into a textbook example of one-way traffic, outpacing “Big Country” by a 129-25 margin in strikes over the course of 15 minutes, with a 90-19 margin in significant strikes, en route to a 30-27 victory across the board.
This was a textbook example of dominance that fans came to know and love from Miocic.
Stipe Miocic’s Memorable MMA Moments: Miocic Claims Championship in Brazil
The UFC Heavyweight Championship is one of the most daunting titles to defend throughout sports. Numerically speaking, prior to Stipe Miocic, you wouldn’t see a titleholder defend his crown more than twice, not counting competitors who had multiple runs as champion.
Three out of the first four UFC Heavyweight Champions didn’t even so much as have a chance to defend the title upon winning it, with the first champ to successfully retain the belt being Maurice Smith in 1997. Fast-forward to 2016, when Miocic’s bid at the gold came about during UFC 198‘s co-main event from Curitiba, Brazil against then-current champ Fabricio Werdum (24-9-1 MMA, 12-6 UFC.)
With the stakes at their highest, Stipe Miocic delivered a whale of a performance, as the then-No. 3 contender at heavyweight went into enemy territory to score a knockout with a single punch, bringing the UFC Heavyweight Championship to Northeast Ohio. This resulted in three successful defenses of the strap, including one in Cleveland during UFC 203 the following September. By the time his first championship reign ended, he’d defended the title three times, with his overall record in the sport standing at 18-2 after a 2018 loss to Daniel Cormier (22-3, 1 NC MMA, 11-3, 1 NC UFC) .
Stipe Miocic’s Memorable MMA Moments: A Classy Retirement From the Sport
While Miocic would have a second stint as UFC Heavyweight Champion beginning with a 2019 rematch against Daniel Cormier and a fourth overall defense of the strap vs. “DC” in a trilogy bout in the latter’s retirement bout during UFC 252 back in August of 2020, he made a bid in 2024 to secure the heavyweight title for a third time in November of 2024.
During UFC 309‘s main event of the evening, Stipe Miocic’s adversary was Jon Jones (28-1, 1 NC MMA, 22-1, 1 NC UFC). Jones was making his first defense of the heavyweight title since winning the then-vacant strap in March of 2023. Miocic would, however, come out a loser in what would prove to be his final contest in MMA by way of third-round knockout (spinning back kick followed by punches) to end his career at 2025.
Miocic used his time in the cage for his post-fight interview to announce he’d be leaving competition behind.
“I’m done,” Stipe Miocic told the crowd. “I’m hanging them up. I’m retiring.”
With that, a memorable career in MMA came to a close. Along the way, Miocic sported an .800 winning percentage throughout his life in the cage. As a first responder, he’s a champion in more ways than one.