Issue 167

May 2018

You don't need to act like the baddest man on the planet to be heavyweight champion of the world. Where some of the biggest, most dangerous fighters in history have exuded an air of menace, Stipe Miocic disarms with his huge smile, running himself down in that self-effacing manner that only makes you warm to him even more.

No fighting sobriquet for him, either. Don’t expect any frills.

He even argues he’s not the baddest person in his home. The 246lb fighter ranks himself behind his wife and two dogs.

Miocic is so much more than the stereotypical classic Midwesterner.

Deep down, there are values he carries close to his heart; sport for good, community values that sustain him. In many ways, he’s the antidote to the modern mores of ‘famed’ attention-seeking, loudmouthed fighters in MMA.

He’s a rarity, at least for a heavyweight world champ and, in fact, almost annoyingly modest.

On the surface, he’s a giant, an old-fashioned slugger who can wrestle. But when he fights, he’s all business. That’s when Miocic really does shoot from the hip and reveals just how extraordinary he is.

There have been quiet champions before, men who are happier using their fists to talk, rather than their mouths. Yes, the UFC heavyweight champion is a man of few words, nary a snarl, and just won’t be pulled out from the big bear cave he inhabits quite comfortably, thank you very much.

But Miocic does delight in laughing at himself bungling at DIY in his new home, expressing his fun in rescuing cats from trees, mopping the fire station floor, attending local parades and fund-raising jamborees in Valley View, Ohio. And he’s thrilled as he awaits his first child, a daughter, with his pregnant wife Ryan.

But try and draw him away from the next fight, or defending the UFC heavyweight crown, and he recedes into that giant shell of his.

He won’t be drawn on the controversial issues which clouded his latest UFC heavyweight title defense against Francis Ngannou, which even saw his wife lambast the UFC on social media for failing to get behind the fighter who has more title defenses (three) than any of the other giant men in the organization’s 25-year history.

He stuffed Ngannou, whose huge hocks had been hyped beyond all recognition, and now with the belt in his possession for two years, faced the prospect of Daniel Cormier in the UFC’s big summer bonanza.

So Miocic – carrying the mantle of the most-decorated UFC heavyweight champion in history – begins camp for the Cormier challenge, having spent time around his rival in the filming of the latest TUF series.

“I believe I’m improving with every camp and every fight, but I am supported by a great team,” he says, immediately on the trail of deflecting his own achievements onto the assistance of others. “If it weren’t for my team, I wouldn’t be here. There wouldn’t have been the great game plans for my fights.

“We have a great training team, and then there are the friends and my family. Without all that support, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

You might suspect there was a degree of irritation with the way in which Ngannou appeared to get top billing when Miocic put his belt on the line against the giant undefeated Cameroonian in Boston at UFC 220.

It was Miocic, after all, who was about to make history with a victory. Instead, the build-up appeared to feature the destructive elements the challenger carried, rather than the accomplishments of a champion who had barely put a foot or fist wrong.

Indeed, in the face of Ngannou’s goading, Miocic took it all with a smile. Then he went to work on the night.

But like most things that might annoy the big man, he simply shrugs it off . “A lot of people were saying that he was going to run through me, blow me out ice cold and I had no chance. But look what happened.” It is here that the Miocic mantra is to the fore.

Fighting does his talking, and moreover, he stresses, there is an over-arching desire “to act” as he believes a heavyweight champion should do, that there ought to be a way of carrying themselves.

“I can’t speak for everyone else but I think the heavyweight champion should carry themselves in a certain way. We are all very big men who fight, and I believe we should find a way to be a role model for people, and for kids. At the end of the day, we are the biggest people and we fight. It’s our duty that we make sure we do the right thing.”

"There is the sense with Miocic, certainly from afar, that he has to fight not only to win, or hold on to the UFC belt, but also to win acclaim. But again, he bats this off.

"It’s not something he thinks about, he counters, gaining the accolades and the respect. He just wants to go quietly about his business – the business of winning.

“I’m not worried about that,” he continues. “I think my grandchildren will see what I did. Everything I’ve done in the Octagon speaks for itself, like breaking the record. All my rivals know who I am, all the fans know who I am, my body of work is up there.

“The role of the heavyweight champion is not about being the baddest man on the planet. You don’t need to see yourself like that, shout about it. Look, I’m not even the baddest man in my house. I’m the fourth after my wife and the dogs. My wife, Ryan, bosses me around – in a good way. She keeps me in check.”

Jim Walter, Miocic’s manager, has represented the Ohio native for almost three years and is frequently disarmed by the modesty of his client. “Unbelievably so,” he tells. “He’s one of the most honest human beings I have ever met. One of the most humble, too.”

That doesn’t always make things easy, he admits. Miocic refuses to leave his comfort zone. But Walter understands his subject and says there will be no attempt to make changes, regardless of how long Miocic reigns.

“My job is to get to know my clients.

And I do know Stipe. For me, in my role, it can be a blessing and a curse [that Stipe is not given to speaking out]. It makes it incredibly hard at times. I can’t tell you how many times people take this out of context. In some cases, Stipe shuts down as a result of some of the questions he is asked and doesn’t say a lot.

"But the point is, he is a very authentic, generous humble person and people try to make it something else.

“He’s a man who lets his actions speak for him. Unfortunately, in this time when the MMA sphere is seen more as an entertainment industry, he never perhaps gets what he deserves in terms of what he has achieved – which is becoming the greatest heavyweight of all time.

“He’s got to where he is after seven or eight hard years in the sport and has such a mentality – he is so grounded and honest – there is a very real prospect that he will just keep on winning. Some athletes make noise and thrive on smack talk; that’s not Stipe. He’s true to himself, and that won’t change.”

No one has yet managed to get under the fighter’s skin in the build-up to any fight. Cormier, a classy character himself with anyone other than his arch-rival Jon Jones, seems unlikely to pull any stunts ahead of their MMA summit.

Even if he does, Miocic will meet it with the same brick wall others have encountered. “I’m not going to go out of my way to get involved in that,” the fighter explained.

“If I have to, I might say something if they said something about my family, but you know I just smile and walk away. I don’t need all that. It’s just words. I don’t really care. I’ll do my thing and I can worry about that when we step in and fight each other.”

Miocic doesn’t suffer from nerves, he explains, but he will be wary of Cormier. “I don’t… but it’s not fun getting hit, especially against big guys, but it’s a fight and if you show weakness, there is something wrong.” Thud. Thwack.Emphatic. Miocic delivers his views. Short, to the point. Rather like his fighting style.

And as for the Cormier fight itself, Miocic is under no illusions that this is a very real, very dangerous defense of the crown.

“He poses a lot of challenges. He is an awesome wrestler, very strong, very athletic. He has fought great guys all his career. Do I feel he is making a mistake taking this fight? I don’t know. We’ll find out. But he’s going to realize in there that he is in against a great heavyweight.”

There is a little hint of the danger that will emerge in the cage and, eventually, an admission of anticipation hidden under the surface. “I’m excited and I can’t wait for this,” he says.

Right now, Miocic is grinding away in the gym with Marcus Marinelli and the team at Strong Style Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness Center in Cleveland, where the champion has become a totem of success.

Yet between times, there’s a balance of ‘normal’ life, an immovable modus operandi of the world of Miocic. He’ll continue his extracurricular professional duties, make sure his wife is healthy through her pregnancy for their first child and call friends over to halt his failed DIY work in a new home.

In other words, there will be more pictures of the heavyweight champion mopping floors at the fire station, saving cats from trees, or with his two beloved dogs – “they are so lazy, but I love ’em” – in the yard at home.

“Look, I love what I do – I love being a fireman. I love everything about it, that’s why I do it. I love helping people, no matter whether I’m heavyweight UFC champion of the world or not. I’m still going to do it. It’s a great atmosphere for me to be around, and I would never change it,” he says.

“I’m happy with where I’m at. Me and my wife love rescuing animals, helping children out. If there is a small parade around us or a big event, we like to be there to take part in fundraisers, donate something and help people make more money for a good cause.”

That relaxed view extends to the future for his offspring. “If my kids want to be fighters, then great. If my daughter wants to fight, all I care about is that she gives it all she’s got in whatever she wants to do. Look, if I was to have a boy down the line, he can be a belly dancer but as long as he gives it his all, I’m 100% behind him.”

Bottom line is that Miocic knows his position. He won’t budge. Not to opponents. Not to critics. Not to play a role that might be foisted upon him. He is who is he is, and there is contentedness in that. Perhaps that is what makes him great. But then there is the shift. To fight mode.

When the time comes, Cormier will be his sole focus. There will be other dangerous challengers and they will all be treated with the same respect, and the same brutal attacks. At 35, Miocic sees no signs of stopping. Not at present, at any rate. But he wants to keep going for as long as he can.

“Well, as long as my body and my heart are still in it, that’s how long I’ll go on. That’s the key to this. You can’t just keep going and going and going. Hopefully, I have a few more years in me yet. Once the desire is gone, you have to call it quits. But I’ll know when it’s time to call it quits.”

And when Miocic does hang them up, we will look back and celebrate one of the most impressive, and classiest, of the UFC champions.

A winner inside and outside the Octagon. One of the kindest and baddest men on the planet. And perhaps the greatest MMA heavyweight of all time.

Baddest vs. scariest

Much was made of Francis Ngannou as the ‘scariest’ challenger to Miocic, but the champion was dominant in defense of his crown.

• 18% Ngannou’s sig. strike accuracy.
• Miocic made his attacks count with 73%.
• 200 total strikes landed, compared to Ngannou’s 33.
• 3rd title defense, taking Miocic beyond Randy Couture, Cain Velasquez and Tim Sylvia for the UFC record.
• 6 takedowns for Miocic. Ngannou failed in his only attempt.

Sizing up

Miocic may not wax lyrical about what he plans for the opponents in front of him, but switching to some fun and a match-up that’s hypothetical in the extreme, he does enjoy imagining his chances against a super-sized Demetrious Johnson.

How would he win?

“I don’t know…wow! If he was the same size, maybe I’d just roll him over or keep my distance and strike. If he threw back, I’d chop him down. The guy’s an animal, the pound-for-pound number one.”

Uncaged

One challenge Miocic does open up on is the prospect of a boxing match with British heavyweight Anthony Joshua.

After Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor created a money-spinning event for the ages, a date in the ring with boxing’s top man ticks all the right boxes.

“I’m 100% on that. It’s what everyone wants to see, the biggest champions against the biggest champions across combat sports. ZUFFA has a boxing license now and they’re looking to go that way. I’d like to face Joshua or anyone who has the titles. I’d love to come to the UK for a stadium fight.

I’m pretty good at fighting in humongous stadiums against the hometown boy.”

“I’ve watched his fights. He’s a huge guy, super tough, and I’m down for whatever. We really would find out then who is the baddest man on the planet…Why not?”