UFC 252: Stipe Miocic vs Daniel Cormier 3, who wins

Let's keep it short and simple. UFC 252, Stipe Miocic vs Daniel Cormier 3, UFC Heavyweight Title, and the title of being the Greatest Heavyweight of this generation. This is what is at stake at UFC 252 when two icons in Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic face off against each other after knocking each other out once.

Who wins this one? That's hard to predict as both are elite in their own right. DC dominated Stipe in their second fight until he didn't as Stipe made superb adjustments in the fourth round to hurt DC with body shots and finally knock him out. The first fight between the two ebbed to and fro until DC caught Stipe with a punch that knocked Stipe out.

If we talk about the fight pundits and experts, everyone is on the fence on this one. Brendan Schaub is arguably not sure what's going to happen but gives DC the edge, Dan Hardy thinks Stipe is going to win while Kenny Florian(although his view might be a bit biased because of his relationship with DC) feels DC will win this one.

I'm not an expert on MMA I'm just a fan so I won't be sitting here and talking about the techniques of these two giants. What I would be doing is giving my view by focusing on the factors that could tilt the balance in favor of one of these two competitors.

One of the biggest talking points has to be the size of the octagon. The smaller size of the octagon and it's significance has been emphasized enough by everyone and with DC being an Olympic level wrestler, it is bound to play in his favor.

The second factor has to be the timing of the fight. Stipe wanted to fight in September and not before that but the fight has been finalized a month prior. Did Stipe have enough time to train for this fight? Especially, considering the situation during the pandemic, was Stipe able to get everything in place for a fight camp? This could arguably have an impact on the fight.

The fight would take place at the Apex Centre in the absence of fans

The third factor has to be the absence of fans. Stipe and Daniel are both crowd favorites, but how much of their performance is dependent on the crowd's reactions? How much energy do they derive from a crowd? Every fighter gets affected differently by the presence and absence of a crowd. It would be interesting to see if it does have an impact on these two.

Now, keeping all of these aside, the most important factors for this fight and something that can be pivotal in determining the outcome of the fight is the age, weight, and conditioning of the fighters. DC himself shared how he had to lose a lot of weight to get back into fighting shape. Will that have an impact on his conditioning? Especially when one of the reasons why DC lost the second fight was because he got tired by the fourth round.

Will he have the gas tank to last the full five rounds? When you look at Stipe right now who looks strikingly leaner than usual you have to think conditioning won't be an issue for him. At the same time, DC is 41 years old and at that age, you just can't expect him to be in the best shape of his life and when you add the stress of losing that much weight on the body, it doesn't look good.

This is what tilts the balance for me. Sure the size of the octagon is smaller and it will play a role, sure the lack of crowds can hamper the fighters and sure Stipe is fighting one month earlier than he would have liked. These are still things that might not impact the fight as much as the shape in which both fighters enter the octagon. Stipe is younger, stays fit throughout the year, is not talking about retirement, and has shown the ability in the past to go for 5 rounds at Heavyweight. DC on the other hand already has a foot outside the octagon with this going to be his last fight, he's 41 right now and not in the prime of his career and has himself confessed that he has had to lose a lot of weight to get fight ready.

Because of this, I feel If Stipe sticks to a game plan and doesn't get dragged into a brawl he could do the business at UFC 252 and anoint himself as the greatest heavyweight of this generation.