There is much to discuss about this event, including the subsequent guest appearance by Brock Lesnar and the ensuing rumors and projections surrounding the Heavyweight division's near future.
Firstly, not a lot of people gave DC a chance in this fight. His reach and size was the topic of many conversations with a collective idea that he wouldn't be able to penetrate Miocic's reach and if he did, that he would pay the price of consciousness. These people must have forgotten that DC has fought Jon Jones twice (admittedly, he was KOd in the second) has fought Alexander Gustafsson who stands at 6"5' and in fact, has very rarely been the taller party in his fight career. DC is used to being the smaller fighter and actually, is very good at it. His use of uppercuts from the collar tie clinch is one of his best weapons, something that Gustafsson knows all too well. Perhaps if Jones didn't have such a good chin, he would be as equally educated on the matter.
The point here is that DC can handle himself against any fighter on the UFC roster, and he proved it on Sunday. Now, there are 2 fighters that currently aren't on the UFC roster that may have something to say about that. One being the ever-dramatic Brock Lesnar, and the other - obviously - Jon Bones Jones.
I'll start with Lesnar, as he seems to be the big talking point after UFC 226. Although a lot of people will dismiss Lesnar as a WWE wrestler and not a true MMA fighter, this is not another CM Punk case. Some people wont have been watching UFC long enough, but Lesnar did make his way to the top of the mountain by beating the legendary Frank Mir to win the UFC Heavyweight Title. Although his reign was shortlived, Lesnar achieved an incredible feat in winning the title in the first place. In my opinion, Brock Lesnar has everything it takes to compete in the UFC, and at top level. This being said, a rather sizeable issue for Lesnar has been USADA ( The US Anti-Doping Agency). Shortly after his return at UFC 200 and smothering Mark Hunt for 15 minutes, Lesnar was found to have violated the USADA rules and had taken performance enhancing drugs. A charge that DC's other rival Jones was also guilty of. Due to this, it has been widely debated whether we will see Brock Lesnar in the Octagon again. Except for Jon Jones calling Lesnar out after his second win over DC, the aftermath of 226 is Lesnar's only emergence in the MMA world for some time.
Lesnar (left) dramatically pushes Cormier after his UFC 226 win
With Lesnar's powerful wrestling and formidable size, a fight with DC would be a very interesting match up. It is hard to say whether the fight would take place on the feet or on the canvas, as both possess high calibre wrestling and impressive knock-out power. For me, DC's gameplan would be reminiscent of his one against Miocic. Lesnar being the bigger guy, DC would have to get inside the 80" reach and utilise his short strikes which usually emerge out of his favoured collar tie clinch. Lesnar's plan is more unclear to me. If im his coach I would probably focus on striking at range, with clinical, infrequent takedowns as a contingency. Lesnar would not want a repeat of his fight against Cain Velasquez.
Velasquez (left-top) rains down on Lesnar from above
However the fight pans out, one thing is for sure: it will be profitable. The only fight I could imagine that would bring in more ticket sales and pay-per-view buys would be Jones v Cormier III for the heavyweight title. An honourable mention would be Conor McGregor against Khabib Nurmagomedov but falls short to the DC v Jones trilogy fight. Big money fights seem to be all the UFC is interested in making at the moment and Lesnar vs DC is one of those for sure.
This brings me on to another subject. The argument for Stipe Miocic. The debate fore the most part is whether Miocic should get an immediate rematch against DC. Now, take Brock Lesnar out of the situation and the decision becomes an easy one. Of course Stipe deserves to get he chance to win the belt back, and there doesn't seem to be a heavyweight on the roster that stakes a bigger claim. That was easy. Now out of the hypothetical and into real life. the UFC is a business. The primary objective of any business is to make profit. Now while it may seem ridiculous that a guy who is not even on the UFC roster walks straight into a title fight, financially it is a very sensible option. Lesnar is almost guaranteed to bring in more money than Miocic would. This is not a slight on Miocic, but lets face it, he couldn't care less about hype, media and showmanship. Stipe gets the job done and that's it. While this may be the perfect mentality to have as a fighter, it is one of the worst mentalities to have as a salesman. The obvious but perfect example of this is Conor McGregor. While his skill took him a certain distance, his showmanship and character pushed him over the line. This is something Stipe lacks, and that Brock has in spades.
The underlying question that remains after all this is: does Lesnar deserve the fight? short answer - no. After becoming the best heavyweight in the history of the UFC by beating the defence record, you would think Miocic would be treated very well in any potential loss. This has not been the case. Although it would be feasible for me to give Lesnar the fight, have Miocic fight Gustafsson and then have the winners face off, Miocic wants the rematch next. If you ask me, this is completely fair and should be the case.
Unfortunately it doesn't look like Miocic will get his way due to the star power of Lesnar and UFC President Dana White saying quite clearly that Lesnar and DC is the fight that will be made. I hope if this is the case that Miocic sticks around to fight the winner, but it would be understandable if he were to sever his one-sided relationship with the UFC.
