Before UFC 252, it was already pre-programmed in our minds that Daniel Cormier would fight his last fight in mixed martial arts (MMA) against Stipe Miocic. It was set up perfectly for the former Olympian, UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight champion, and ex-Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner to go out.
It is a fairy tale that ends many dreams but only a few achieve.
One of the narratives that came up in the trilogy battle “Miocic vs. Cormier” was the ever-present danger of “DCs” accidentally eye-popping. And should you not know it, Miocic took one of Cormier’s half round one. And the resounding sounds of “here we go again” were social media. Miocic managed to shake it off and went on. Meanwhile, it was a fairly competitive fight in the first three rounds before – in a truly ironic way – Cormier was at the receiving end of an annoying eyeball even with the courtesy of the 265-pound champion (see it here).
Cormier went on to fight the rest of the match, seeing clearly from only one eye, and public post-fight everything he could see out of his injured eye was dark.
Still, Cormier has apparently impacted his career with two straight defeats to Miocic, but that does not erase everything he has done in the sport. And let’s not forget that he came to the party late, starting his MMA career at the age of 30. But he hit it off so fast and enjoyed success because he competed all his life. He is a living legend and emerging fighters can only dream of a career like his.
That brings us to Sean O’Malley, the brilliant 25-year-old who began his MMA career at the age of 20. He stormed Dana White’s “Contender Series” and stole the boss’s heart, and White has been high on “Suga” ever since. He was slowly raised because it was easy to see that the promotion had plans around him. to grow to be the next big thing, perhaps he joined Conor McGregor and Israel Adesanya as one of their poster boys.
And he could still get along very well, but as we’ve seen over the past few weeks, things can go south in great opportunity for promising prospects, just as they did this past weekend when O’Malley lost for the first time. of his career lay through first-round knockout (as well as another leg injury).
Let’s get one thing crystal clear now: Nothing needs to be taken away from Miocic and Vera to get the job done. But we live in a world where there will be those who blame the unintentional eye poke and the freak injury for the loss. And of course, “what if” will come out of her mouth in the coming weeks. And that’s okay, hunters want fans, friends and family to ride like that for them.
But at the end of the day, Stipe and “Chito” went in and did what they had to do to get their respective profits. Unfortunately for Cormier and O’Malley, their respective losses will speak for themselves for months to come. Of course although the loss does not make it any less, Cormier will not have to worry about what it does for his future since he is done with the sport. But O’Malley will have to return to the drawing board and start from scratch to get to the Promised Land.
It’s a story of two devastating defeats for several reasons: an emerging legend does not finish his fairy tale and a rising star loses some luster.
Click here for full UFC 252 results and highlights over here.
