A cautionary tale: Daniel Cormier VS Stipe Miocic 2 post fight analysis

Why did Cormier lose the second fight against Miocic? Was it the punches or something else? Here is the Daniel Cormier VS Stipe Miocic 2 post fight analysis and you can read the article/watch the video to find out.

“It’s not about the shots you take. It’s the one that you just don’t see coming. And that was a great combination by Stipe off of than body shot. He threw that one-two right behind it, and I didn’t see it. A lot of the times I see punches, and kind of roll with them so I don’t take the full brunt of the punch, but on that one, he landed perfect“. – Daniel Cormier

Today we’re talking about why Cormier lost his second fight against Miocic.

Now, the first thing that comes to mind to most people were the body punches in the 4th round that softened Cormier up and allowed Miocic to connect with that cross to the face.

The weight of Stipe Miocic

The other thing that comes to mind was Stipe Miocic’ weight. He was lighter than ever and looked the best that I’ve seen him. Did that play a factor?

“I didn’t feel like he was faster. I really didn’t. But I think in some instances he made me tired a little bit more and I think tonight he may not have tired as he did prior when he was bigger“. – Daniel Cormier

We’ll get back to the weight issue later.

The main reason why Daniel Cormier lost the fight

While the body shots were very effective, in my opinion, it was something else that significantly contributed to Cormier’s loss, and it could have probably been avoided.

“When you start finding success and landing things, you just kind of fall in love with it. The problem is I was going, he was hitting me but I didn’t feel that much. That (wrestling and GNP) was the strategy. That’s probably the biggest let-down is how I let my coaches down. They were begging me to wrestle. And that’s probably the most disappointing. I didn’t do what I was trained to do, and I feel like I let my coaches down. Tonight I actually paid the ultimate price for not listening“. – Daniel Cormier

This was the number one reason he lost. He didn’t use his wrestling and ground control as he does usually.

Does that mean he fought badly?

No, he fought a great fight, and actually landed more significant strikes than Miocic, but why test yourself against such a striker if it’s not necessary? MMA is dangerous as it is, and he didn’t need to place himself in more danger by striking too much with Miocic.

He even started to hand fight from a distance as Jon jones does and even found success by doing it, but that was not wise. Even though he hit Miocic many times, he was getting tagged himself which was unnecessary.

Daniel Cormier VS Stipe Miocic strengths comparison

When comparing yourself against your opponent in different areas, you have to be honest and determine which path is most likely to result in success. Then follow it.

This is just a rough comparison of the strengths of both fighters, which is highly subjective. Nevertheless, it is a good starting point when you want to determine the correct strategy. The path to victory was wrestling and ground fighting for Cormier.

And if you’d like to learn about all the single leg variations that Cormier uses to take his opponents down, I have a video about that which you can find HERE.

The strategy Daniel Cormier should have chosen

The first round was the blueprint he should have followed. Does it mean he would have won for sure with that strategy? No, but it would have given him the best chances of doing so. In that round, he took the fresh Miocic down, ground and pounded him and made him carry his weight which made Miocic a lot more tired than Cormier. Why not more of that?

Instead, he allowed it to turn into a tit-for-tat dog fight which Miocic was better equipped to win. One of the factors that contributed to this was Miocic’ increased endurance because of his reduced weight which allowed him to win the dog fight. And of course his solid chin and striking ability.

Once again, both fighters did a fantastic job, the fight was awesome, but the strategy was not there for Cormier. This should serve as a cautionary tale for fighters of all levels, not just high-level ones.

And yes, it happens that a grappler can out-strike a striker or vice versa, meaning that a fighter can win in an area where he’s not supposed to win on paper. Jon Jones made a career of that.

But as a general rule, when fighting against elite opponents, you need to minimize risks and use every opportunity and advantage that you have in order to win. As we could see, even an Olympian like Cormier can make this kind of a mistake, despite many years of the highest level of competitive experience.

Stipe Miocic’ body shots

What about the body shots? They were masterfully done, and they definitively contributed to the KO. And BTW, it was amazing that Cormier was able to take so many before showing signs of weakness. Would you like me to make a video about body shots? Let me know in the youtube comments.

What did you think about the fight? Do you think Cormier could have won it if he chose to wrestle and ground and pound? Let me know about that also in the comments.

If you want to take your MMA training further, check out my instructionals.