The UFC has officially announced a championship rematch at UFC 241 between UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier and former champion Stipe Miocic, set to take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA on August 17th, 2019.
They will run it back in Anaheim!@DC_MMA ? @StipeMiocic 2 headlines #UFC241 Aug. 17! pic.twitter.com/FBEsS4qFAT
— UFC (@ufc) May 5, 2019
The announcement of the bout was made during tonight’s UFC Fight Night card on ESPN+.
Cormier, who was also the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion at the time, defeated Miocic at UFC 226 in Las Vegas on July 7th, 2018 to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion after a first-round knockout. Cormier went on to successfully defend the title in his last bout against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230 in New York City, NY on November 3rd, 2018. On December 28th, 2018, Cormier vacated the UFC Light Heavyweight title.
The bout will mark Miocic’s return to action since losing the UFC Heavyweight title to Cormier. Prior to losing the title, Miocic broke the UFC record for most consecutive heavyweight title defenses after defending the title three times. Miocic’s successful title defenses included wins over Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos, and Francis Ngannou.
UFC 241 will mark the promotion’s first visit to Anaheim since 2017. The promotion was scheduled to hold UFC 233 at the Honda Center in Anaheim on January 26th, 2019. UFC 233 was eventually canceled after its original main event, UFC Flyweight Champion Henry Cejudo vs. T.J. Dillashaw, was moved to the UFC’s inaugural ESPN+ event on January 19th. This left UFC 233 without a main event, causing the event to be called off. UFC 233 was also slated to run directly against Bellator 214: Fedor vs. Bader, which was being held the same night at The Forum in Inglewood, CA.
On July 29th, 2017, the UFC held UFC 214 at the Honda Center. At the event, Daniel Cormier defended the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Jon Jones. The fight came to an end after Jones knocked out Cormier in the third round to win the championship. On August 22nd, 2017, the result of the bout was overturned after Jones tested positive for Turinabol. Jones was then stripped of the title, and Cormier was reinstated as the champion.
UFC 241 will mark the promotion’s first event in Southern California since UFC 232 on December 29th, 2018 in Inglewood at The Forum. UFC 232 was originally set to be held in Las Vegas. The event ended up being moved on six days notice to Inglewood after the Nevada State Athletic Commission wouldn’t grant headline fighter Jon Jones a license due to his failed test at UFC 214. Despite Nevada’s unwillingness to grant Jones a license, the California State Athletic Commission granted Jones a license to fight in the state. Jones went on to defeat Alexander Gustafsson for the vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
UFC 241: Cormier vs. Miocic 2 takes place on August 17th, 2019 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. The event will be available through ESPN+ Pay-Per-View.
Stay tuned to SoCalUncensored.com for news and updates.
