Stipe Miocic is once again the UFC's heavyweight champion. After rallying to knock out Daniel Cormier in the second fight, Miocic utilized a similar gameplan to out-maneuver the former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion for the decision victory on Saturday night.
Miocic, who now owns one of the best resumes in history of the heavyweight division, outboxed Cormier as the two once again slugged it out over five grueling rounds. Miocic looked close to finishing Cormier at the end of Round 2 after landing a series of right hooks on the chin of Cormier and piling on punches just as the horn sounded, which seemed to save Cormier from being stopped.
From there, an inadvertent eye poke by Miocic in the third damaged Cormier's eye to the point where he said he could not see out of it for the rest of the fight. Cormier stayed tough, however, and fought through the final horn even though it was for not.
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Elsewhere on the card, Marlon Vera scored a stunning upset of Sean O'Malley after O'Malley seemed to injure his foot in the first round. Vera went to work after the apparent injury, dropping O'Malley with a vicious elbow before adding some more follow-up shots.
CBS Sports was with you throughout the week with plenty of preview stories, predictions and analysis. We were also here throughout fight night for updates, highlights and analysis. Relive all the action from UFC 252 below.
UFC 252 fight card, results
- Stipe Miocic (c) def. Daniel Cormier via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
- Marlon Vera def. Sean O'Malley via first-round TKO (punches, elbows)
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik def. Junior dos Santos via second-round TKO (punches)
- Daniel Pineda def. Herbert Burns via second-round TKO (elbows)
- Merab Dvalishvili def. John Dodson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Vinc Pichel def. Jim Miller via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
- Virna Jandiroba def. Felice Herrig via first-round submission (armbar)
- Danny Chavez def. TJ Brown via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Livia Renata Souza def. Ashley Yoder via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Chris Daukaus def. Parker Porter via first-round TKO (punches)
- Kai Kamaka def. Tony Kelley via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
UFC 252 countdown
- Campbell: Cormier has no one to blame but himself for loss
- LOOK: Cormier suffers brutal eye poke injury in loss to Miocic
- Complete staff predictions and expert picks
- Campbell: What if Cormier stayed at heavyweight for his entire career?
- Campbell: Win or lose, Cormier believes his legacy is already cemented
- Brookhouse: Breaking down each fight on the main card
- Brookhouse: Messy future ahead for heavyweight division
- Brookhouse: Top picks and best prop bets on the board for Saturday
- Campbell: Cormier believes Jones, not Miocic, is his defining rival
- Campbell: Vera refuses to be a stepping stone for Sean O'Malley
- Brookhouse: The greatest trilogies in UFC history
- Campbell: Legacies of both fighters among biggest storylines to follow
