Miocic swept scorecards 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47; Cormier confirms his retirement after fight
Sunday 16 August 2020 11:13, UK
Stipe Miocic beat Daniel Cormier by unanimous decision to retain his heavyweight crown at UFC 252 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Miocic swept the scorecards 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 to stake his claim as the greatest heavyweight in history with Cormier confirming his retirement after the fight at the UFC APEX complex.
The 31-year-old caught Cormier with a vicious poke in the third round that sent the challenger staggering to his corner with a swollen left eye.
The 41-year-old former two-division champion gamely fought on for the final two rounds but was unable to overcome Miocic in the third fight of the trilogy between the two heavyweight fighters.
Cormier ended Miocic's record run of three straight heavyweight title defences in their first meeting at UFC 226 in 2018, but Miocic regained the title from Cormier in the rematch at UFC 241 last year.
Speaking before being taken to hospital for treatment on his eye, Cormier said he stood by his decision to retire from UFC after an illustrious career.
He said: "I can't see anything out of my left eye.
"I'm not interested in fighting for anything but titles and I don't imagine there is going to be a title in the future.
"That will be it for me. I've had a long run, it's been great.
"I just fought my last fight for a heavyweight championship and it was a pretty good fight."
