Beaten to a bloody pulp, the tough-minded and durable Junior dos Santos leaned exclusively on his boxing skills in capturing a unanimous decision from the Strong Style Fight Team standout in the UFC on Fox 13 headliner on Saturday at the US Airways Center in Phoenix. All three judges sided with dos Santos (17-3, 11-2 UFC): 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46.
Stipe Miocic (12-2, 6-2) has never looked better. He cracked the favored dos Santos repeatedly with right hands, landed beautiful power punches while exiting clinches and mixed in a second-round takedown. Miocic had the Brazilian reeling more than once with high-velocity shots but could not find a way to put away the former champion.
Dos Santos briefly floored him with a counter left hook in the third round, executed an exquisite trip takedown in the fourth and scored with a stinging jab throughout. He also invested heavily in body shots with left hooks and straight rights — a strategy that seemed to take the spring out of Miocic’s step late in the fight. Both men had their moments in the fifth despite being bloodied and exhausted, closing out a memorable 25-minute confrontation
Related: UFC on Fox 13 Recap
