A Closer Look At Stipe Miocic Vs. Shane Del Rosario:

Shane Del Rosario Vs. Stipe Miocic

This weekend the UFC’s heavyweight division will be in full display with bouts  including everyone from its current champ Junior Dos Santos taking on former champion Frank Mir, Stephan Struve scrapping with last minute replacement Lavar Johnson and Roy Nelson squaring off against Dave Herman.   But round’ here there is one fight that means more to this area above all the others, Cleveland prospect and rising UFC contender Stipe Miocic will return to take on undefeated Strikeforce vet Shane Del Rosario in an under card tilt for contender class dominance.

Stipe is rolling into this fight with a nice head of steam after taking our Phil De Fries in quick and brutal fashion just a few weeks ago.   He will be looking to keep things going against Del Rosario who should prove to be his stiffest test to date.

Del Rosario has been out for a while due to an injury sustained in a car accident and is returning to make his UFC debut.  Rosario ran rough shod over the Strikeforce heavies until a car accident sidelined him for over 15 months.  

Check out the rest in the full entry:

The breakdown:

Stipe has a great base set of skills that have gotten him to this stage of the game.  His biggest weapon and best attribute is his ability to land crushing power shots during exchanges and he will need to hit Rosario early and often.  

Don’t get it twisted; this is not even close to an easy fight.

Rosario is great everywhere and has a deep set of skills on the feet and floor.  His last win was a first round armbar over Lavar Johnson, yes the same Lavar Johnson who is currently wading his way through the B tier of Zuffa heavies and leaving them piled up bleeding and disoriented.   Stipe will need to be firing on all cylinders and shoot at everything that moves in this one.

I would love to tell you this fight is Stipe’s to lose, but this is real talk not “Say something great about a fighter you know indirectly talk”.  Stipe needs Del Rosario to make a few mistakes and even come in a little rusty here to be successful. 

With that said here’s what I think are on his side:

Stipe has two big advantages in this one and these may be the difference.  The first advantage is that he has been down this road twice before while Rosario will be making his first UFC appearance.  Many a great man has stepped in that cage and had trouble adjusting to the pressure on their first try.  The second major advantage is that Stipe has the type of one shot power to dig himself out of most holes, even ones that he digs himself. He used it against De Fries and if Del Rosario stays in front of him too long, he may do it again here.

Del Rosario is probably the more advanced kickboxer and may also carry the advantage on the floor in terms of submissions and options.  It’s a tough pill to swallow but In knowing those ‘theories’ Stipe’s path is more clearly defined. 

It's Time For Some Real Talk:

To shut down Del Rosario Stipe needs to jump on him early and hit him often and hard.  If he can push the pace and not allow Shane to settle in, he has a better shot at picking up the win here.  He can’t allow Shane to get a rhythm going on the feet and he definitely can’t allow him to set up his tricks on the floor. Miocic had some issues against De Fries defensively that I am sure they have fixed but he will need to be more careful against a true striker like Del Rosario. If this fight hits the ground Stipe needs to keep Shane against the fence and put some serious leather on him for as long as it takes for something to open up.  My personal suggestion would be to only pursue the ground tactics if things on the feet aren’t panning out.  His power threat and strong boxing skills should help him keep Del Rosario off balance and as long as he fights to his advantage he can pick up the win.

If Miocic can pull this one off, it will mean he is now 3-0 in the UFC and will move him into a serious contender slot. 

Being a self admitted Miocic fan, I am going to go against the paper and the pundits here and take the Croatian crusher via Unanimous decision.