The UFC have announced a true superfight is on the way as light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has agreed to step up to heavyweight for a showdown with divisional kingpin Stipe Miocic at UFC 226 on July 7th in Las Vegas.
The must-see clash of the titans will take center-stage during International Fight Week in the fight capital of the world, but before that the two stars will feature as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter Season 27, with filming set to commence next week.
Cormier had recently stated that he wasn’t planning to move up in weight to challenge for the title before his retirement next year, but it seems that the lure of becoming a two-division champion and sealing his place in the history books has convinced him that it’s worth the risk.
This will be far from ‘DC’s’ first rodeo at heavyweight as that’s the division he started his MMA career in, and he found a lot of succcess in the weight class, going undefeated in his 13-fight run before dropping down to 205lbs.
Along the way he won Strikeforce’s heavyweight grand-prix by defeating Jeff Monson, Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva and Josh Barnett after initially entering as an alternate, and then moved on to the UFC, where he notched up wins over Frank Mir and Roy Nelson.
In the four years since then his attention has been fully focused on light-heavyweight, where he’s compiled a 5-1 (+1nc) record and become the divisions champion, beating the likes of Anthony Johnson, Alexander Gustafsson and Anderson Silva along the way.
As for Miocic, he has proven himself to be the dominant force in the heavyweight ranks with 11 wins from his 13 fights in the UFC to date, including his current six-fight winning streak that’s seen him win the title by defeating Fabricio Werdum, then rack up successful defenses of the belt against Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos and Francis Ngannou.
The UFC are believed to be planning a truly stacked card for the UFC 226 event this summer, but regardless of what other fights end up on it, this superfight will ensure its an event that everyone will want to see.
