The main event of UFC 226 will feature a champion versus champion bout for the biggest prize in MMA.
Record-breaking undisputed UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic will put his title on the line for a fourth time against reigning UFC light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who’s moving back up to heavyweight for the first time since October 2013.
The bout will serve as the showpiece bout of the UFC’s annual week-long jamboree in Las Vegas, International Fight Week, with the pair going head to head in the T-Mobile Arena for the heavyweight championship of the world.
Both men scored convincing victories on the same fight card a fortnight ago at UFC 220, with Cormier finishing Swiss challenger Volkan Oezdemir via second-round TKO, and Miocic dominating powerful Cameroonian-French heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou over five rounds.
After that event, UFC president Dana White told FOX Sports he was keen on making the Miocic-Cormier bout, saying: “I don’t see why [Cormier] couldn’t fight at heavyweight. And if he thinks that Cain [Velasquez - Cormier’s training partner and former heavyweight champion] might come back, if he won the belt he could give it up.
“But either way, it’s a good fight. With all the defences he has - Stipe just broke the record for the most defences - it’s a fun fight.”
Cormier started his career as a heavyweight and raced to 13-0 before switching to the 205lb light-heavyweight division, where he eventually became a two-time UFC champion. Now, after completing a third title defence with victory over Oezdemir, he’s returning to heavyweight in a bid to become only the second fighter (after Conor McGregor) to hold world titles in two divisions at the same time.
Miocic, meanwhile, has already written his name into the UFC record books by becoming the first heavyweight champion in UFC history to defend his title three times. Now he’s looking to raise the bar with a fourth successful defence against Cormier.
It was also confirmed that Miocic and Cormier will coach opposite each other in the upcoming series of The Ultimate Fighter, with filming for the 27th season of the UFC’s famous reality show set to begin this week.
The best up-and-coming fighters from that season will feature in The Ultimate Fighter Finale in Vegas on Friday, 6 July, with Miocic and Cormier facing off at UFC 226 the following night.