It was a long, hard-fought 14 year MMA career for former UFC champion Stipe Miocic. In a legendary career, the 42-year-old wrote his name in history by being the only one to defend the UFC heavyweight belt four times, and to do it three times in a row too.
During his prime, the Ohioan bested the biggest, most dangerous names the promotion had to offer, such as Francis Ngannou, Daniel Cormier, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, and Junior dos Santos, to name a few.
Nevertheless, as all great careers must also come to an end, Stipe Miocic decided to hang up his gloves following a TKO loss to Jon Jones at
UFC 309.
Having been away from the Octagon for over three years, it was no easy task to take on another MMA great, who just happens to also be five years his junior. Since Miocic's last win came in 2020, when he defeated Daniel Cormier by unanimous decision, it may have come as no surprise when the former champion announced his retirement shortly after the end of the title fight in New York City.
Stipe Miocic sends emotional message after retiring
However, it was only a few days after the event that Stipe Miocic decided to take to his
official Instagram account
to write an extensive retirement post, in which he could address everybody he was thankful to along the way. Before he could start naming names, though, the 42-year-old just wanted to ensure his fans, friends and family that he was happy with his performance and the way that his career ended at UFC 309.
"Let me start this post by saying I am good. Been through a lot worse. I hope everybody enjoyed the show on Saturday. What an incredible way go out! I started this journey fighting in local bowling alleys & ended it selling out Madison Square Garden. It truly doesn’t get better than that," Miocic wrote.
"Sorry I don’t get the W, but you can’t get em all. Sometimes it’s not your night, that is the nature of the beast. You can’t plan a perfect ending in this sport, but I guess the perfect ending is to have been lucky enough to do it at all. You all have given me so much, and I hope I did you all proud. Croatia & Cleveland Ohio especially. I felt all of you with me at every battle."
Miocic: 'We had a hell of a run'
After writing about the fight, Stipe Miocic moved on to address his coach and team. In a touching passage, the heavyweight even mentioned how coach Marcus Marinelli became a father figure for himself after Miocic's father's passing. Then, the former champion also thanked his family and even his opponents, who made it possible for him improve as a figther and achieve such a successful career in the Octagon.
"To Marcus Marinelli and the Strongstyle team. We started together, we finished together. We cried together & we bled together. If people only knew the whole story of everything we have been through, we could write a pretty badass novel. There is nobody else I would have shared this journey with. the best part is that we are family forever. Marcus, I know my father has passed. But I also know he appreciates you stepping in and being the father figure I needed in my life.
"We had a hell of a run coach. You dedicated years of your life to me. We made history based on a dream and you had a vision. Now we have more time to drink wine and play euchre while making fun of Bobby because he is terrible at defending himself. To my opponents, thank you all. I learned something from every single one of you. It was a honor to go to war brothers. To my wife, you are my rock. The ship doesn’t sail without you. You sacrificed so much for this dream and I love you."
"God knew I needed you & you motivate me more than any one! I will miss hanging up on you on Embedded, but there’s YouTube for that. To my kids, everything I have ever done is all for the two of you. To my Mom, I know this isn’t the career you would have chose for me, but you have always been in my corner since day one, it was me & you. To my VaynerSports family, you guys are the best in the business."
Stipe Miocic's career was legendary
Stipe Miocic's UFC career started in 2011, when he scored consecutive wins over Joey Beltran, Philip De Fries and Shane Del Rosario to gain the attention of fans and pundits as promising newcomer in the division. However, an upset TKO loss to Stefan Struve in 2012 put a halt to those plans for a brief period.
The firefighter managed to turn it all around by putting on another three-fight winning streak, when he defeated Roy Nelson, Gabriel Gonzaga and Fabio Maldonado before dropping a unanimous decision to former champion Junior Dos Santos in a match that won a Fight Of The Night bonus in December 2014.
It was only in 2015 that Stipe Miocic started to enter the prime of his career, when wins over veterans Mark Hunt and Andrei Arlovski guaranteed him a title shot against then champion Fabricio Werdum, whom the Ohioan defeated via first-round knockout in May 2016, in his opponent's home country of Brazil, at UFC 198.
After winning the belt, Miocic would go on to defend it thrice in a row, with victories over Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos and Francis Ngannou. In his fourth title defense to be, he lost the belt via unanimous decision to Daniel Cormier in July 2018, but would quickly regain it in an immediate rematch in August of the following year and then secure it in a rubber match against 'DC' in August 2020.
The Cormier win would end up being the last win of Miocic's career, who then lost the title again in March 2021, when he got knocked out by Francis Ngannou in a rematch. The loss put his career on a three-year hiatus before he came back to face Jon Jones at UFC 309 and lost via TKO.
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