The two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder will return to the cage sometime in 2023, having spent two years on the sidelines while the division he twice ruled shuffled its deck. Miocic remains armed with a hall-of-fame resume anchored by wins over some of the sport’s all-time greats. Newly minted heavyweight champion Jon Jones has already targeted the 6-foot-4 wrestle-boxer for his first title defense.
As Miocic awaits word on his next move from UFC matchmakers, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied him to this point.
40: Years of age for Miocic, who was born in Euclid, Ohio, on Aug. 19, 1982. Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” John Cougar’s “Hurts So Good,” The Steve Miller Band’s “Abracadabra,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Hold Me” and Chicago’s “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” were the Top 5 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 list at the time.
15: Miocic victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 75% of his career total. His list of UFC victims: Daniel Cormier, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Andrei Arlovski, Fabio Maldonado, Mark Hunt, Shane del Rosario and Philip De Fries. Miocic owns five other victories by decision (25%).
17: Seconds needed for Miocic to bury Corey Mullis with punches at a North American Allied Fight Series event in his Feb. 20. 2010 professional debut. More than 13 years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
37: Rounds completed by Miocic as a mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on six different occasions and carries a 5-1 mark in those bouts. The lone outlier? A unanimous decision defeat to dos Santos at UFC on Fox 13 in December 2014.
970: Significant strikes landed by Miocic as a member of the UFC roster, placing him third on the promotion’s all-time heavyweight list. Only Arlovski (1,429) and dos Santos (1,109) have been credited with more.
1,372: Days spent by Miocic as the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship. He struck gold for the first time when he knocked out Werdum at UFC 98 on May 14, 2016 and held it until he lost to Cormier at UFC 226 on July 7, 2018, then reclaimed it when he put away “DC” with punches in their UFC 241 rematch on Aug. 17, 2019 and kept it until he surrendered it to Ngannou at UFC 260 on March 27, 2021.
440,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Miocic across his 18 appearances in the UFC. He has been awarded “Performance of the Night” five times, “Fight of the Night” three times and “Knockout of the Night” once.
11: UFC bouts in which Miocic has completed at least one takedown. The Strong Style Fight Team cornerstone holds an 8-3 record in those outings.
5: Countries in which Miocic has plied his mixed martial arts trade. He has gone 16-3 in the United States, 2-0 in Brazil, 1-0 in Canada, 1-0 in Australia and 0-1 in England.
.754: Cumulative winning percentage between the four opponents—Ngannou, Cormier, dos Santos and Stefan Struve—who have defeated Miocic. They sport a combined record of 89-29.