This is the UFC 226 live blog for Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier, a heavyweight championship bout at Saturday night’s UFC event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Miocic, who is looking to extend his UFC record streak of three consecutive heavyweight title defenses, fights Cormier, the UFC’s reigning light heavyweight champion, in the main event.
Check out the UFC 226 live blog below.
Round 1: Marc Goddard is the referee for this main event. Miocic strikes first with a quick combo, Cormier looking to clinch up, but Miocic won’t allow it. Short punch inside by Cormier. They grapple and it’s Miocic who almost drags Cormier down, but the smaller man is able to get up with his back against the cage. Miocic pressing Cormier against the cage, throwing knees to the thigh. They break apart. Straight jab lands for D.C. Miocic with the right hand now. Back to the clinch, they battle for underhooks then separate again. Short punch by Miocic lands. Leg kick scores for Cormier, then a jab. Miocic coming over the top with punches, Cormier answers back with straight shots. Both fighters connecting now. Inside leg kick, but Cormier’s follow-up sees him accidentally poking Miocic’s eye. Goddard warns Cormier about keeping his hands closed. Cormier with the switch kick to the body. Miocic answers with a leg kick. 1-2 lands for Cormier. He breaks a clinch attempt by Miocic and lands an elbow right on the jaw, Miocic goes down! Cormier is on him with ground-and-pound and this one is over!
Official result: Daniel Cormier def. Stipe Miocic via KO (elbow and punches) at 4:33 of Round 1
The UFC 226 post-fight press conference is the last piece of business to take care of after the action is over in the Octagon, and we have the live video below at MMAFighting.com.
UFC officials will announce the winners of the Fight of the Night and the Performance of the Night bonuses, and winning fighters will meet the media after their fights.
The UFC 226 post-fight press conference takes place about 30 minutes after the main event ends, meaning it will start around 1:30 a.m. ET.
Stipe Miocic
Dana White
Derrick Lewis
Mike Perry
As soon as UFC 226 wraps up later tonight (Sat., July 7, 2018) live on pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, fight fans can check out the live post-fight press conference video above for all the best reaction and official bonus winners.
On a night that features a heavyweight superfight between current champion Stipe Miocic and UFC light heavyweight titleholder Daniel Cormier, a heavyweight throwdown between proven knockout sensations Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis, a lightweight affair pitting former UFC champion Anthony Pettis against former Ultimate Fighter winner Michael Chiesa, a welterweight barn burner between “Irish Dragon” Paul Felder and the heavy-handed Mike Perry, and a light heavyweight clash between kickboxing sensation Gokhan Saki and Khalil Rountree, there will be a lot to talk about after the action winds down.
The post-fight presser is scheduled to go live at 1:15 a.m. ET, and feature the biggest winners and losers from the card.
For complete UFC 226 results and coverage click here.
FIRST, we saw one of the most boring fights in UFC history.
The, Daniel Cormier made history of his own. And, that’s all before Brock Lesnar joined the party.
That’s right, after Cormier’s impressive first round knockout of Stipe Miocic — gifting him the Heavyweight title — he decided to call out Lesnar, who recently made his return to the WWE.
“Listen to DC,” Cormier told the crowd, after his win at UFC 226.
“There’s a guy that I’ve known for a long time. He’s a wrestler. He’s an All-American. He’s a former UFC Champion. I never thought I would fight him, but Brock Lesnar, get your a** in here.”
DC calls out Brock Lesnar 1:11
DC stuns Miocic with epic KO! 1:27
Cormier was riding a confidence high, after an unlikely knockout of Miocic, with the 39-year-old the first person in UFC history with possession of both the Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight titles.
So, after a post-fight spectacle that began with Cormier yelling, “I’m a two-division champion, baby”, it took Lesnar storming the octagon to quickly change the narrative.
Lesnar pushed a title-laden Cormier, before speaking to the crowd, himself.
“Let me tell you something,” Lesnar said. “I walked into this building and watched a heavyweight disaster from the beginning. Ngannou’s a piece of s***. Miocic, the piece of sh***. DC, I’m coming for you, motherf*****”
Rountree shocks world with KO 0:52
Costa topples Hall with TKO 1:07
T-Mobile Arena erupted in a chorus of both cheers and boos, and it seems as though we have our next heavyweight battle.
LEWIS DEFEATS NGANNOU IN ‘ONE OF THE WORST HEAVYWEIGHT FIGHTS I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE’
The ending to the evening was a somewhat welcome change from what we saw in the co-main event, with some relatively strong words coming from Joe Rogan, regarding the fight between Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis.
Ngannou and Lewis entered UFC 226 as two of the most feared heavyweights in the sport, but left the card having just completed the most uneventful fights in history.
View results from the entire card below!
Worst ever heavyweight fight 1:21
Both fighters are known for their knockout power, but the cautiousness of both men led to a fight where there was very little engagement; both heavyweights on their back foot.
Derrick came away with the win via unanimous decision, but the blame was placed on both fighters for such an actionless bout.
Ngannou threw a total of 46 strikes, connecting on 11, while Lewis threw just 54, connecting on 20. To put that in perspective, Daniel Cormier — known for his ground game — threw 45 strikes in less than one round, in his victory over Miocic.
Naturally, the wider sports community wasn’t impressed with the co
Let Brock slap Ngannou around right now. I demand satisfaction! — Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) July 8, 2018
The best blow in the co-main event comes from @joerogan “he doesn’t need a trainer, he needs a sports psychologist.” #UFC226 #Lewis wins the decision over #Ngannou in a fight where I burned more calories than both fighters combined by getting up & going to the bathroom. https://t.co/gu9X7NDZVa — Dan Hill (@hillimpact) July 8, 2018
I agree with Rogan. That was the worst heavyweight fight I have ever seen. Ngannou looked scared to throw or take a punch. This guy was a beast for the last two years. — Jonathan Coachman (@TheCoachrules) July 8, 2018
That sucked. We can all agree on that. I want to hear from Francis Ngannou. What happened? Pretty clear Derrick Lewis' back hurt, but what happened to Ngannou. That division is better with scary Ngannou. I hope he's not gone. — Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) July 8, 2018
Lewis over Ngannou one of worst @ufc “fights” I’ve ever watched. Embarrassing. Turrible. — Dennis Manoloff (@dmansworld474) July 8, 2018
Stock majorly down for both Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis.
There's no way of sugar coating this one. That was absolute garbage. — Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) July 8, 2018
Francis Ngannou vs Derrick Lewis was so bad that the commentators were saying go on fight pass to watch them actually fight. #UFC226 — emiliosparks (@emiliosparks) July 8, 2018
UFC 226: Miocic v Cormier 3:24
FULL CARD
Main Card
Daniel Cormier (new champion) def Stipe Miocic - via KO
Derrick Lewis def. Francis Ngannou - via decision
Mike Perry def. Paul Felder - via split decision
Anthony Pettis def. Michael Chiesa - via 2nd round submission
Khalil Rountree Jr. def. Gokhan Saki - via 1st round KO
Prelims
Paulo Costa def. Uriah Hall - via 2nd round KO
Raphael Assuncao def. Rob Font - via decision
Drakkar Klose def. Lando Vannata - via decision
Curtis Millender def. Max Griffin - via decision
Early Prelims
Dan Hooker def. Gilbert Burns - via 1st round KO
Emily Whitmire def. Jamie Moyle - via decision
*For UFC heavyweight championship
*For UFC featherweight championship
RE-LIVE (if you can’t see the blog; click here!)
