Stipe Tried To Convince UFC To Use Bigger Cage At UFC 252

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One of the biggest changes — other than no fans in attendance — Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) implemented for all of its event staged inside its APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada is the use of a smaller 25-foot Octagon instead of the original one that measures 30 feet.

There have been a bevy of finishes — like this one and this one — during most events that went down inside the UFC APEX which some attribute to the smaller cage the prevents backpedaling. For UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, while he says he will do just fine in the smaller cage, he did try to convince UFC officials to swap it out for the normal sized one.

“A bigger cage is better of course,” Miocic told ESPN. “It is what it is. I’m not going to cry about it. I definitely tried to get a bigger cage, but it wasn’t in the cards. What are you gonna do? I’m not worried. My [gym’s] cage is the same size and I’ve been working on everything.”

Tied at one win a piece, Miocic and Daniel Cormier will collide for the third and final time at UFC 252 on Aug. 15, 2020 in “Sin City.” And though both men were knocked out by the other to score the win, “DC” wasn’t shy in saying he would likely take the Curtis Blaydes approach and grind out a win over the champ using his wrestling.

It’s something the former UFC champ-champ thinks will work in his favor thanks to the smaller Octagon. That said, while Stipe has been brushing up on his wrestling he still intends to do his damage while the fight is standing.

“There are a lot more angles and stuff, and getting pushed against the cage, you don’t have that extra five feet,” Miocic said. “We’ve definitely been training wrestling more. He said to bring my wrestling shoes. He’ll definitely try to wrestle me, but every fight starts standing, don’t forget that. We’ll see. Take me down then. We’re wrestling? I thought we were fighting.”

A win for Cormier assures him that he will leave the fight game on top since he intends to retire after the fight. Should that be the case, we can’t rule out Miocic being one half of the equation when it comes to staging a title fight for the vacant strap.

Though it’s a safe to say Stipe is looking to avoid all of that by simply getting the job done one more time.