UFC 252 brought out all the excitement mixed martials arts fans wanted to witness. The pay-per-view octagon featured the trilogy fight between UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and Daniel “DC” Cormier.
The main card featured many high profile fights to add to the excitement. The main card started off with a bantamweight bout between John Dodson (22-12) and Merab Dvalishvili (12-4). Dodson avoided 18 of Dvalishvili’s 20 takedown attempts but Dvalishvili continued to attack Dodson, which led to Dvalishvili’s victory after the fight was decided by the judges. Dvalishvili has won five straight decision victories after starting his run in the UFC at 0-2.
In the next fight, Daniel Pineda (27-13, 2 No Contest) fought in his second UFC fight in six years against Herbert Burns (11-3). Pineda did not disappoint. Pineda earned knockout of the night after landing punches and elbows in the crucifix position, which knocked Burns out. Burns had a small advantage earlier in the round, but he could not stop Pineda’s ground strikes.
The last fight in the main card featured a match between two dominant heavyweight contenders. Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos (21-8) faced off against Jair Rozenstruik (11-1). Santos landed some nice punches early, on but Rozenstruik had too much power, which led to Santos being knocked down twice. The referee stopped the fight after the second knockdown.
The co-main event showcased rising MMA star Sean O’Malley, who has looked very impressive in his most recent fights with fast knockouts. O’Malley had an undefeated record of 12-0 going into the fight but was surprised by bantamweight contender Marlon Vera (16-6-1) in the first round with elbow strikes on the ground. O’Malley hit Vera with hard leg kicks early in the round, but Vera countered with a nasty leg kick which prevented O’Malley from putting weight on that leg. Vera continues to move up the rankings with his sixth win in a row.
Regarded as possibly the greatest trilogy fight in UFC history, Miocic and Cormier appeared in the main event of the octagon once again as they fought for the heavyweight strap. In the first fight, Cormier knocked out Miocic to win the heavyweight belt, but Miocic came back and won his belt back in their second fight by knockout. In the third fight, both fighters landed vicious strikes, including each fighter landing an eye poke on the other. Ultimately, Miocic won the fight. Cormier announced that after the fight he would retire and end his MMA career.
UFC 252 had some big takeaways. Pineda is making a remarkable return to the UFC as he climbs the ranks; Rozenstruik could be the next heavyweight to challenge Miocic for the title; O’Malley may need to take some time to rest his body after this loss and Miocic is the greatest heavyweight of all time.
Armin Mesinovic can be reached @[email protected] or on Twitter @arminmesinovic