While he didn’t really care about legacy too much before, it’s all that new UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic cares about now.
Miocic became a two-time heavyweight champion when he knocked out Daniel Cormier in the fourth round of their UFC 241 main event this past weekend. Not only did he exact revenge on Cormier following his loss last year, but he also reestablished his claim as the greatest heavyweight of all time.
This was all the more notable given the talk of Cormier taking that accolade with a potential second win over Miocic. However, it’s the Ohio native who has a firm grip on that title, with UFC president Dana White and light heavyweight champion Jon Jones labeling him as the greatest heavyweight of all time following the event.
“It’s awesome,” Miocic responded at the post-fight press conference. “Especially Jon Jones saying that and Dana. It’s real cool, man. It’s cool to be noticed for your accomplishments. At the end of the day, I just want my daughter to be proud of me.
“It’s all about legacy now. At first, I was like ‘fuck the legacy.’ Now I’m like it’s all about the legacy. Have a good legacy. A legacy where I’m a good dude, a tough fighter. I’ve gone through adversity. It’s never been an easy road. I like it hard because it makes it that much sweeter.”
Cormier had repeatedly claimed that he was the better fighter leading up to UFC 241. Miocic thought differently but that’s not the only reason why he wanted the rematch so badly. He also wanted to send a positive message to his daughter and other kids that it’s alright to have a setback in life.
“There’s a lot of reasons why I wanted this fight,” Miocic explained. “I knew I was the better fighter. But I wanted to show my daughter that times get tough, some things will happen, you just got to get back up, dust yourself off.
“Bunch of guys at the [fire] station’s kids, when I lost, they cried. That really bothered me. I wanted to show them, just like my daughter, sometimes it doesn’t happen…”