UFC: Junior dos Santos beat Stipe Miocic by decision in a gruelling contest
Monday 15 December 2014 11:37, UK
Junior dos Santos came through a bruising encounter with Stipe Miocic to take a narrowly won unanimous decision in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday.
The former heavyweight champion was fighting for the first time since October last year, having lost twice to champion Cain Velasquez, but was victorious in his return to the cage on Saturday night.
Miocic may have delivered his best performance to date despite defeat - pushing dos Santos all the way and ensuring the winner went home with a swollen, bloodied face.
Miocic started brighter and his heavy handed wrestling approach likely earned him the opening two rounds. By the third, dos Santos was finding his range with his boxing and dropped Miocic with a left hook.
The heavyweight pair were clearly feeling the relentless pace of the fight but Miocic suffered more, and dos Santos was able to take him to the ground in the fourth which was ultimately enough to edge the judges' scorecards for that round.
While both men caught a second wind in the closing round and landed heavy blows, the fight went the distance and was scored 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 in dos Santos' favour.
Previously, Rafael dos Sanjos delivered a one-sided beating of Nate Diaz. Matt Mitrione stopped Gabriel Gonzaga, and Alistair Overeem stopped Stefan Struve.
