UFC 241 Live Results

Daniel Cormier has the chance to solidify his place among some of the greatest of all time in the UFC, while Stipe Miocic has the opportunity to gain revenge and the belt Cormier took from him back. The two will meet in the main event of UFC 241, live on Aug. 17 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

The pair first collided in the main event of UFC 226 last year, with Cormier, then UFC light heavyweight champion, knocking out Miocic in the first round. The win for Cormier made him the second UFC fighter to hold two UFC titles simultaneously and the fifth to win UFC titles in two weight classes at any point.

Miocic has not fought since losing the title, adamant about deserving a rematch and raising his voice whenever Cormier had another opponent in mind. Cormier, meanwhile, has been exploring specific options of opponents as he’s preparing to end his career — in fact, tonight’s fight could very well be his last.

Cormier has won of the eight fights he’s had since losing to Jon Jones at UFC 182, with the sole loss in that time — at UFC 214, again to Jones — overturned to a No Contest. He’s made one successful defense of the UFC heavyweight title thus far, defeating Derrick Lewis at UFC 230.

A trilogy bout with Jones is uncertain, as each man has expressed some disinterest in a third meeting, not to mention the discussions of which weight class the bout would be contested at. Cormier had expressed interest in facing Brock Lesnar, and the bout looked certain after Lesnar dropped the WWE universal championship at WrestleMania 35. Once Lesnar returned to WWE over the UFC, due in part to the UFC’s pay-per-view deal with ESPN+ limiting his potential revenue, Cormier-Miocic II was quickly booked.

Prior to the loss to Cormier, Miocic had won six straight and set the record for most consecutive successful defenses of the UFC heavyweight title with three. After winning the title from Fabricio Werdum at UFC 198, Miocic retained the title against Alistair Overeem (at UFC 203), Junior dos Santos (at UFC 211) and Francis Ngannou (at UFC 220).

The co-main event of the evening will see Nate Diaz’s return to the Octagon for the first time in three years, as he takes on Anthony Pettis.

Diaz, who competes for the first time since his legendary pair of bouts with Conor McGregor in 2016, has maintained that he is a superstar and deserves to be treated on the same level as McGregor. He has stated he is only interested in the “money fights” or opponents he deems worthy. Diaz was scheduled to return at UFC 230 against Dustin Poirier, but the bout was called off after Poirier suffered an injury.

Pettis, the former UFC lightweight champion, competes at welterweight for just the second time. He won his debut at the weight class earlier this year, knocking out former title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC Nashville.

Diaz and Pettis have some bad blood going back to Pettis’ days as champion, which also saw him become the first UFC fighter to grace a Wheaties box. Pettis, who coached The Ultimate Fighter season 20 against Gilbert Melendez (a friend and teammate to Diaz [Diaz was an assistant coach]) claimed in an interview earlier this year he feels Diaz only plays to the cameras, whereas Diaz has taken issue with Pettis’ accomplishments and perceived superstardom.

Main card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)

UFC Heavyweight Title: Stipe Miocic def. (c) Daniel Cormier via TKO (Rd. 4, 4:09)

Nate Diaz def. Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Paulo Costa def. Yoel Romero via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Sodiq Yusuff def. Gabriel Benitez via TKO (Rd. 1, 4:14)

Derek Brunson def. Ian Heinisch via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary Card (ESPN at 8 p.m. ET)

Khama Worthy def. Devonte Smith via TKO (Rd. 1, 4:15)

Cory Sandhagen def. Raphael Assuncao via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Drakkar Klose def. Christos Giagos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Casey Kenney def. Manny Bermudez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Early Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass at 6:30 p.m. ET)

Hannah Cifers def. Jodie Esquibel via unanimous decision (30-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Kyung Ho Kang def. Brandon Davis via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Sabina Mazo def. Shana Dobson via unanimous decision (30-24, 30-25, 30-25)