UFC 211 video recap: Stipe Miocic finishes Junior dos Santos in the first round

Stipe Miocic sought and got revenge at UFC 211, knocking out Junior dos Santos to retain the heavyweight title in the evening’s main event Saturday in Dallas.

Miocic wasted little time in this rematch of their first fight from 2014 fight. In their first meeting, dos Santos walked away with a unanimous decision. This time, Miocic finished his opponent in the very first round.

Early on, JDS applied some fierce legkicks to the point the champion had a noticeable limp. Miocic checked one, but that left a mark on his shin that left onlookers cringing.

Despite the damage left from the kicks, Miocic pushed forward and backed dos Santos against the cage. While there, Miocic left little space for his opponent to escape from his striking. With a thunderous right hand, Miocic knocked his opponent down to the floor, face-first. He pursued his fallen opponent to the ground, and landed few more head strikes before the referee pulled him off for the stoppage.

Miocic picked up the win at just 2:22 into the opening frame.

What was the highlight of the fight?

There’s no question what the highlight of the this fight is — the finish, nothing more.

JDS has had a rough time in the past when his back was against the cage, and UFC 211 was no different. Miocic applied pressure and backed him up. From there, it was all over with a right hand and Miocic picked up the second straight defense of his heavyweight title.

Where do these two go from here?

Miocic is quickly becoming one of the best heavyweights of all time. Even dos Santos said he’s on his way to earning that recognition. With consecutive finishes of guys like Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, and now dos Santos, it’s clear that Miocic’s next defense should come against former champion Cain Velasquez (if Cain can stay healthy).

As for dos Santos, a man who was once the heavyweight champion has gone back and forth, winning and losing over the past four and a half years. If the pattern continues, he’s set to win his next fight, but there’s no chance that’ll be an easy task. Look for JDS to come back soon, perhaps in a rematch against Werdum.

Watch now, later, or never?

You got two minutes? You like knockouts? Of course you do. As such, you should watch Miocic vs. JDS 2.