Junior Dos Santos picked up a hard earned decision victory over Stipe Miocic as the headliner of UFC on FOX. It was a back and forth war, and while some may dispute the scorecards, it was truly an entertaining bout and is well deserving of the extra $50,000 both men earned as Fight of the Night. Check out highlights from the bout above, along with our play by play of the action below:
R1: Dos Santos starts off with a clean right cross. Miocic cautiously shrinks the gap and puts dos Santos on the cage but he can't finish the double leg and they separate. Miocic lands a short jab and dos Santos answers with a left to the breadbasket. Miocic dives on a single and finishes it but dos Santos gets back up, eating two short rights to the mouth in the process. Miocic lands a clean jab but dos Santos side-steps his clinch entry.
Dos Santos connects on his best punch yet, a big left hook. Miocic answers with a strong one-two, then tags dos Santos with two rights at close range. Dos Santos fires off a short right and then a scorcher from distance, landing both. Now it's an uppercut that finds the mark for dos Santos. And a glancing right cross. Miocic plugs dos Santos with a right hook and follows behind it to clinch. Dos Santos clobbers him with consecutive left hooks to close the frame. 10-10.
R2: Miocic ducks under a dos Santos left but can't secure the takedown. Miocic scores with a body kick and glancing right hand, but takes a few rights to the head when he gets in on a double leg. Dos Santos sprawls out and spins Miocic onto the cage, but breaks after Miocic lands a body knee. Glancing jab lands for Miocic. Dos Santos snaps home a left hook, then grazes with a right cross. They both land with a punch as Miocic closes the distance.
Dos Santos bleeding from a cut under his right eye and Miocic plugs him with a pair of right hands. Miocic changes levels and forces dos Santos into the cage, landing a right and a left on the break, then tying back up. Dos Santos connects on a stiff left hook after they separate, then plunges a left hand to the gut. Now a right downstairs is there for dos Santos. Dos Santos answers with a left to the body but gets tagged by a Miocic right. Short uppercut elbow glances from Miocic in the clinch, who follows up by hitting a double leg with 20 seconds left. 10-9 Miocic.
R3: They both let their hands go with neither cementing an advantage. Miocic shoots a double and dos Santos counters and nearly gets on top but Miocic escapes the dangerous position and dings dos Santos with a right. Left hook lands for Miocic. Dos Santos glances with a right. Dos Santos whiffs on a monster uppercut. Dos Santos drills Miocic with a right to the body.
Miocic answers with a clean right but wades in swinging and gets clocked with a nasty left hook, and goes down. Miocic gets back up but he's a tad wobbly and bleeding profusely from the mouth and nose. Dos Santos catches him with another right and easily stuffs a takedown. Lead right downstairs lands for dos Santos. Another right scores for dos Santos. Dos Santos scores to the body again, then comes high with a right. 10-9 Dos Santos.
R4: Miocic lands a left kick square to the cup of dos Santos and we pause briefly. Dos Santos gets back to work with a right to the body as Miocic lands a low kick. Miocic gets dos Santos but he pops right back up. Dos Santos circles out and scores to the body, then glances with a double jab. Check hook lands for dos Santos. Miocic flings two lefts and clinches up but dos Santos escapes quickly and easily, then just misses with a big uppercut.
Miocic connects on a right cross on his way in but he can't keep dos Santos on the cage. Another right to the face for Miocic, then another, and another. Miocic blocks a searing right hand from dos Santos and the impact still sends him back a few steps. Dos Santos jabs to the body, then lands a glancing left hook. Miocic comes over the top with a right on his way into the clinch but dos Santos catches him off-guard with a slick trip. Dos Santos holds a body lock to keep Miocic in place the Croatian-American hits a nice switch and they restart on the feet. 10-10 for another even round.
R5: Dos Santos lands to the body and then with two more lefts off his back foot. Dos Santos sits down on a left hook that Miocic partially blocks. Dos Santos lands a right and a left to the body. Two more body jabs from Dos Santos, who tries to behead Miocic when he counters the body shots. Miocic changes levels but the double-leg attempt is sluggish and dos Santos shrugs it off. More body shots from dos Santos.
Miocic lands a right cross. Dos Santos plugs him with another right to the gut, then comes high with a right cross. Two more jabs downstairs for dos Santos. Miocic lands a one-two and dos Santos slips in a right counter. Dos Santos jabs high and then low; Miocic lands a quick right. Hook/cross combo lands for Miocic, then he connects on the same combo only harder and it persuades dos Santos to clinch briefly. Miocic clinches up and dos Santos circles off the fence and separates. Dos Santos lands one uppercut low and two high at close range. Miocic lands rights to the body and connects with a one-two after the clinch breaks. Dos Santos unloads a three-punch combo and connects clean on the closing left hook. Miocic answers with a flurry and dos Santos ends the round with a knee. Damn. I'm sorry but I saw no clear-cut winner in the fifth or in the fight overall. 10-10 in the 5th round for an even 49-49 overall on my card.
Junior dos Santos defeats Stipe Miocic by unanimous decision (49-46 x 2, 48-47)
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