Stipe Miocic on UFC training and being a firefighter during a pandemic
Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole spoke to the UFC Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in a one-on-one interview about training for his upcoming fight against Daniel Cormier while still working as a fire fighter.
Video Transcript
KEVIN IOLE: Hey, folks, thank you for joining me. It is my privilege now to have the guy widely considered the greatest heavyweight in UFC history, the reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion, who on August 15th at the apex in Las Vegas will defend his belt in a really highly anticipated trilogy against the former champion Daniel Cormier. Of course, I'm talking about Stipe Miocic. Stipe, how are you, my friend?
STIPE MIOCIC: Doing great. How you doing, sir?
KEVIN IOLE: I am doing awesome. Really looking forward to the fight. It has been an eventful year since last you fought, you've had some eye issues, obviously the pandemic broke out. So, let's start there, the pandemic. That kept you from fighting for a while. What was that like? And I know you love to fight, but also, you love your job as a firefighter and helping people. You were going out on COVID-19 calls, weren't you?
STIPE MIOCIC: Yeah, with that with the whole situation, it's not that I didn't want to train, I couldn't train. I had nowhere to train, everything was shut down. Ohio was one of the first states to shut down. They were shut down for a while, and people didn't really understand that, they're like, pick a job, what are you talking about? I can't train, what do you want me to do? Knock on wood, but everything has been good so far, nothing has come up from working in the station, we're pretty good there. And you know, being safe with all the manners, it's going good.
KEVIN IOLE: The eye poke from the last fight, you had, if I'm not mistaken, you had two procedures done on your eye, is that correct?
STIPE MIOCIC: One, one. They looked at the first time at the same time of the procedure.
KEVIN IOLE: OK. Explain to me what happened. You got a scratch on the cornea? Is that what it was? Or the retina?
STIPE MIOCIC: No, I was having spots in my eye. And then I was getting like-
KEVIN IOLE: Those floaters?
STIPE MIOCIC: Like a lighting bolt, I don't know, it was weird. I was just like, it will probably go away, maybe I was dehydrated or something. Because after a fight, you don't know. I waited a few weeks, and then I look, man, it's not getting better. I went to the doctor, he was like, yeah, you better get checked out. So I went to [INAUDIBLE] fellowship here in Cleveland, and he said, yeah, you have a tear in your retina.
KEVIN IOLE: Man. So obviously, back in the day, when Sugar Ray Leonard first retired, he retired because of a detached retina. Now, they can do that. But still, did you give your career any consideration at that point? Because your vision is so precious to you, when you knew that you had that injury, did you ever think, do I need to do this anymore? I know you've made a lot of money in your fighting career. Was it something that you ever gave consideration to?
STIPE MIOCIC: Well yeah, definitely. I definitely thought, because I wanted to be able to see my daughter with both eyes. But as I talked to the doctor, he explained everything. He was like, yeah, you're good. It is weakened, so it could happen again. But, he was like, it's healed up, you should be good. He said, just take your time.
He said nothing exerting, don't get punched in the face for a while. So I took the time. Mid-January, I started getting back in the swing of things after the procedure was done. I started training, and then COVID hit and all the craziness happened. I would have fought DC a lot earlier, but unfortunately, the pandemic. I didn't plan it. It wasn't in my story line of what I wanted to happen. But, it is what it is.
KEVIN IOLE: I know this pandemic has been crazy, my wife is a doctor, and she has had to deal with it, with COVID and everything. I wonder your experience, what has it been like going out and dealing with it? What have you had to do when the calls come in, as a paramedic. Would have you had to do to help people during this?
STIPE MIOCIC: Well, you know, first things first is when we get to the station, we have to check our temperature, you know, make sure that we're not elevated, that we don't have any symptoms, when we show up. We've been actually pretty good at the station. A couple other stations in the area have had a few cases in their station, but we've been pretty good.
On calls, we wear goggles, we wear a N95 mask, we always wear gloves no matter what. Sometimes, we gone off, it just depends. We usually do a full kit ready to go. I mean, most times we would send three, I would take two, just to be on the safe side. We would do a scrub down, scrub, all that good stuff.
KEVIN IOLE: You know, I always think that somebody who is in a business like you are, as a paramedic, as a firefighter, you're in the industry to serve people, right? That's why you do what you do, in order to help people, to serve them. So do you get some kind of gratification, even more now that you're making a contribution to the world at a time when so many Americans are dying, so many people are sick? Do you feel like you've been able, and you've been questioned about, why do you keep doing a firefighter as you're fighting? But is this why you do it, because now what we're going on now?
STIPE MIOCIC: Yeah, definitely. I love what I do. I said, I love being a fireman, I love everything about it. You know, I worked real hard to get there. I just want my mom to be proud of me, I did something. Her and her sons will have good jobs. And besides, me being a fireman, no matter a great fireman [INAUDIBLE] an IT guy who went to school and did all that great stuff. I think we both want our mom to be proud of us, to be happy. Moral of the story is that, I just love what I do, I love helping people. My whole life I've been helped too, I just want to give back. There's a lot of time where I needed something and people helped me. I don't keep score, it's a give and take.
KEVIN IOLE: I was going to say, there's a lot of good things and a lot of bad things about the pandemic. One thing is, if the NFL gets cancelled, at least the Browns won't finish last place again.
STIPE MIOCIC: [INAUDIBLE] rest of the season?
KEVIN IOLE: No if they cancel it, at least we know then the Browns won't finish last.
STIPE MIOCIC: Wow, wow. They didn't finish last last year, did they? I don't think they did.
KEVIN IOLE: They weren't ahead of the Steelers, that's all that mattered.
STIPE MIOCIC: Wow, you're cutting deep right there, my brother.
[LAUGHTER]
KEVIN IOLE: I was thinking about you last night when I said, what are my least favorite teams in all of sports? And I had to say, well, the Ravens, the Browns, and the Philadelphia Flyers, so I'm sorry about that.
STIPE MIOCIC: At least you have a football team now.
[LAUGHTER]
KEVIN IOLE: Hey, let's talk about the two fights with DC. The first fight, it was like you control the fight early on, and then he lands that punch and finishes you. The second fight, he's controlling, and then you make the adjustment. Was there something that you saw in the fight was just instinctive when you started going down to the body to kind of change the way the fight rolled?
STIPE MIOCIC: Yeah I mean, I don't think I've ever started so slow in my life, in my fights. I usually start fast and set the pace. I was just stuck in the mud for a little bit, I started waking up in the second round. Third round definitely was more, and by the fourth I was good to go. If I start like that again, that would be terrible. Yeah, we work on it all the time, just never had to go there. So I saw him, I'm like, hey this kid is shy, let's see where he likes to hit. Hit it the first time, did it again, I'm like, all right, now we're good, we got something here. Just had a difference to it and it just kept working.
KEVIN IOLE: He's made the comment, you know, bring your wrestling shoes, you're fighting in a 25 foot cage. There's been talk out there, and I don't know if it's accurate-- maybe you can confirm it-- you asked UFC to do a 30 foot cage. Will the 25 foot cage make a difference, and will it favor him, if in fact he is planning to wrestle you?
STIPE MIOCIC: Well, it definitely looks like it's in his favor because he's a wrestler, but I thought we were fighting, I didn't know we were wrestling. But I train in a 25 foot cage every day. So, it's not anything new to me. Just be smart, and we will work on it, and we're doing everything we can to get ready for this fight.
KEVIN IOLE: You have, as I understand, built kind of a little training area in your basement right, so you don't even have to leave home. Is that 25 foot down there?
STIPE MIOCIC: No, no, I wish, I wish. At my last house, we were going to add a cage, add a massive 3,000 square foot barn with the heat, it was great. And we moved, which I'm happy, I love our house now, it's even better. Yeah, I have a big area down in the basement. It's pretty big, not massive, but it definitely gets the job done.
KEVIN IOLE: Right so you're-
STIPE MIOCIC: We do a lot down there. We grapple, wrestle, spar. I have bags and stuff. So it's not huge, but it's definitely big enough.
KEVIN IOLE: Do you feel like going forward, that would be what you would do even if the pandemic ends? Would you do it at home so you're with your family, or would you still go out?
STIPE MIOCIC: Yeah, honestly I feel so much better, rejuvenated. At home, my daughter-in-law sees me while I'm training, it's fun. I don't have to leave, and I just feel more- I don't know- I feel comfortable. It is different, I like different too. It's something new, I think that helped out a lot. I liked it a lot actually, I wish I had done it a lot sooner.
KEVIN IOLE: Do you buy the notion, and does it mean anything to you, that this fight is to determine who the greatest heavyweight of all time is? Do you feel like the winner is the greatest, or is there somebody else? Or do you even care?
STIPE MIOCIC: I mean, yeah, everyone's saying it is. I mean, I'm going to go out there and do my job, I'm going to go out there and win, get the belt wrapped around my waist and still walk out with my hand raised, and that's it. Everyone had their own opinion. Maybe you think yes, maybe you think no. I don't care. All I care about is being a champ.
KEVIN IOLE: Right. Why do you think it is? You had three title defenses, that's a record. You see these other divisions, John Jones has this long list of titled defenses, George St-Pierre racked them up, there's a lot of people that have a lot of defenses. But in heavyweight, for all the great fighters, going back to Randy Couture when he held the UFC heavyweight championship, guys don't defend the title well. Is there something about heavyweights? Is it the fact that there just hasn't been that many good heavyweights? Can you put your finger on why it is that there's so much turnover at heavyweight?
STIPE MIOCIC: I don't know. I think just because it's a different division, big guys throwing small gloves, they throw bombs. It just takes one. And they haven't had a great division, that's why it's exciting. It doesn't matter if the guy is as good as the other guy, one punch is all it takes. You don't know what's going to happen, honestly.
KEVIN IOLE: There was talk, speculation that I never saw coming from you, but people on the internet so you know, be careful what you believe. They said that you may retire after this fight. DC has talked about retiring, but also that you may walk away after this fight. Is that true, or are you still planning to continue, win or lose?
STIPE MIOCIC: Well, I'm still planning to fight, I feel good, man. The minute I'm not having fun, I'm out. This can't be [INAUDIBLE] than usual, I don't know why. We always have fun, but I think just with everything going on, honestly it's been the boys. We were close together, and it's been great, they come over. My daughter loves it, my head coaches are [INAUDIBLE] so she goes HAM for him. It's just fun, we all hang out, get great workouts in and just enjoy life. It's just like a boys club, you know?
KEVIN IOLE: Awesome. Let's wrap it up with this. How do you see this fight playing out? Do you think stylistically it'll be similar to the last fight, or do you think there are going to be adjustments that will make it a distinctly different fight than the other one?
STIPE MIOCIC: Well definitely both, I think both of us will have adjustments for the fight. Then we knew [INAUDIBLE] going to lose, we had in our last fight. And think we're going to have strengths, but also have weakness. And I think we're going to come out swinging. Of course, he says it's going to be his last fight, I'm going to go out there, unfortunately he's going to end on a loss. I'm walking out with my hand raised, belt wrapped around my waist. I've been saying, I'm not going to lose, I've trained too hard. He's trying to take something that's mine, I'm not giving it up this time.
KEVIN IOLE: Awesome. Stipe, appreciate that so much. On August 15th, on Pay-Per-View live from apex in the beautiful city of Las Vegas, Nevada, my hometown, it will be Stipe Miocic against Daniel Cormier for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, you don't want to miss that. Stipe, thanks again.
STIPE MIOCIC: All right, thanks for having me.
KEVIN IOLE: Appreciate it, Stipe.
