UFC 252 results: Miocic earns decision and defends title as main card sees three KOs

Bengaluru, August 16: UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier 3 took place at the Apex Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday (August 15) with a title fight headliner and five of eleven fights ending in stoppage.

The main event of UFC 252 was the historic conclusion of the trilogy between UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and the former champion Daniel Cormier.

In the first round, Miocic had great striking combinations, while Cormier used his trademark clinch attempt and right punch, and ended the round strong with a near knockdown.

The second round intensified, and it was Stipe with the knockdown at the end of the round. So, with a possible one round won for each, they came out swinging in the third for true heavyweight action. Miocic poured on the combinations which made Cormier resort to his wrestling.

UFC 252: Miocic edges retiring Cormier to retain title

The championship rounds brought out grueling wrestling and hard close range shots from both in the fourth, and ferocious, active work in the fifth.

Miocic landed combinations to head and body, and Cormier's right hand landed over and over. Therefore, the bout went to the judges. Miocic kept the title by unanimous decision due to more strikes and longer cage control.

UFC heavyweight champion Miocic said, "(Cormier) an amazing fighter, that's why he does what he does, that's why he's won so many titles and beat so many good guys. I'm going home, I've got the belt. It's my birthday on the 19th, Modelos for days."

Former champion Cormier said, "Being on the losing end is a sad position to be in, but I will deal with it. I'm not interested in fighting for anything but a title, and I don't feel there is another title fight ahead. That will be it for me."

The co-main event featured two exciting bantamweights, #14 Sean "Suga" O'Malley and Marlon "Chito" Vera, and they started off by throwing creative, crazy kicks.

"Something's wrong with O'Malley's leg." #UFC252 pic.twitter.com/jgJ1zaFBpU

— UFC (@ufc) August 16, 2020

Suddenly O'Malley appeared to have a leg injury, and Vera was able to get him down and land elbows to the head for the rapid first round finish.

Vera said, "I try personally to be a high-level black belt, a high-level wrestler and a high-level striker. Joe Rogan has the best advice, don't read comments, don't read negativity. I feed myself with positivity, my family, my friends.

"I've said this before the fight, I'll say this right now, I'm in good spirits, I'm a person that works hard for me, for my family, for my country and when you work the way I work, your dreams come true."

Meanwhile, in the opening bout of the main card, #12 bantamweight John Dodson had his speedy striking shut down by the pressure wrestling of #15 ranked Merab Dvalishvili.

Although Dvalishvili was not able to keep the crafty Dodson down to get a finish, he did win all three rounds on the score cards.

50Gs on an amazing night from Las Vegas 💰

💵: @DanielPitPineda
💵: @VirnaJandiroba

[ B2YB @P3Protein ] pic.twitter.com/bjSoQ7NZg3

— UFC (@ufc) August 16, 2020

After six years since his first run in UFC, Daniel Pineda made a dominant return to the Octagon in his bout against up and comer Herbert Burns. Pineda was able to negate all of Burns' well-known Brazilian jiu jitsu skills and used his ground and pound to get the TKO in the second round.

In a highly important ranking fight at heavyweight, #5 Junior dos Santos and #6 Jairzinho Rozenstruik engaged with technical, battering kick boxing skills. While both men landed accurate and heavy punches, Rozenstruik was the first to score with a proper knock down, followed with punches for the TKO.

In the preliminary card, there were decision wins for Vinc Pichel, Livinha Souza, Danny Chavez and Kai Kamaka, while the likes of Chris Daukaus and Virna Jandiroba earned stoppage wins.

UFC 252: Miocic vs Cormier 3 Final Results

Main Card

1. Heavyweight title bout: Stipe Miocic defeated Daniel Cormier via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)

2. Bantamweight bout: Marlon Vera defeated Sean O'Malley via TKO at 4:40 of round 1

3. Heavyweight bout: Jairzinho Rozenstruik defeated Junior Dos Santos via KO at 3:47 of round 2

4. Featherweight bout: Daniel Pineda defeated Herbert Burns via TKO at 4:37 of round 2

5. Bantamweight bout: Merab Dvalishvili defeated John Dodson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

1. Lightweight bout: Vinc Pichel defeated Jim Miller via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)

2. Women's Strawweight bout: Livinha Souza defeated Ashley Yoder via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

3. Heavyweight bout: Chris Daukaus defeated Parker Porter via TKO at 4:28 of round 1

4. Women's Strawweight bout: Virna Jandiroba defeated Felice Herrig via arm bar at 1:44 of round 1

5. Featherweight bout: Danny Chavez defeated TJ Brown via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

6. Featherweight bout: Kai Kamaka defeated Tony Kelley via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)