Stipe Miocic is a man who is all business.

When we think of the UFC’s most decorated heavyweight fighter to ever live, Miocic’s longtime status as an active firefighter is often associated. And with good reason. The proud Ohioan did that never was a full-time fighter, yet found success at the highest level imaginable.

Professional face punching wasn’t even Miocic’s plan. MMA has plenty of stories about fighters casually joining a gym for general fitness and training, which eventually turns into an attempt at a career. Such was the case when Miocic helped an old teammate in the mid-2000s. He thought he would try a few fights himself and began a run through the amateur ranks. Before all the glamor that comes with fighting the cream of the crop in the UFC, Miocic’s wild early days were just like anyone else’s.

“Back then, a lot of guys were training in their garage and stuff like that,” Miocic told Uncrowned ahead of his UFC 309 title challenge against heavyweight champion Jon Jones. “Now everyone – even if they’re not that good – still technically knows what’s going on and what they’re doing. They have the technique, and before then we were just fighters. We were just there for a show.

“My team (had game plans) because I had a great gym, but some of these guys I fought (on the regional stage), you could tell they just went out swinging.”

Unfortunately for the five men who challenged the future legend as an amateur, they swung and missed. Miocic spent a total of six minutes and 32 seconds in the cage before turning pro.

It was off to the races.

MMA is weird and the power of hindsight can amplify that to a bizarre degree. Just ask lifelong bantamweight Raphael Assuncao, who is coming off a win over two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Jorge Masvidal, or former UFC featherweight Ivan Menjivar about the night he fought welterweight GOAT Georges St-Pierre. In MMA’s regional scene, parallel universes exist within cage fighting.

At Heavyweight, the door is wider open than any other division for absurd observations. On May 21, 2010, Miocic traveled to Worcester, Massachusetts, to face Paul Barry. It was nothing more than a typical matchup for regional prospects. However, the Moosin Fight Night event had a particularly wild main event.

“My second pro fight was when Mariusz Pudzianowski fought Tim Sylvia,” Miocic said.

Yes, Worcester, Massachusetts. The perfect place for your random dark alley of MMA freakshow fantasies.

A strong Polish champion who reinvented himself as an aspiring boxer, Pudzianowski became perhaps the greatest “freak show fighter” of all time. And the spectacle of that show, in which a former UFC heavyweight champion from the past spoiled the promoter’s plans with an early knockout of Pudzianowski, opened Miocic’s eyes to the world he was entering.

“There was a lot going on,” Miocic said. “That was a big show and Pudzianowski was fighting, there’s a big Polish community in that area so it was crazy. I thought, ‘Holy crap, people are going crazy.’

“I thought there were going to be huge fights because he lost. They were just heartbroken, which I understand, but it was mind-boggling.”

In 2024, Pudzianowski is still active at the age of 47, while Miocic is getting ready to try to become a three-time UFC champion by defeating a fellow all-time great in Jones. Miocic and Pudzianowski somehow fought on the same night in the same place and theoretically could have fought each other.

Parallel universes.

Considering Miocic’s dual career nature, this has made his 14-year journey as a professional all the more interesting, as he has stated numerous times that every fight since his UFC debut could be his last. He never is necessary fighting to support his family. It’s become something he’s damn good at and enjoys.

But there was a specific moment when Miocic knew he could be the very best at it.

In 2014, in the fourth year of his UFC journey, Miocic headed a forgotten classic against former champion Junior dos Santos at UFC on Fox 13. It was Miocic’s first chance to break into the top division, and although he lost a decision, Miocic knew that night that he was the world’s most important heavyweight.

“I lost,” Miocic said, “(but) I knew I belonged and it was more of a confidence builder. Sticking with him was like, ‘I know I can do this. No one’s going to stop me. I’m going to do what I do.’

“He was a tough guy, but in that fight I could have beaten him. I lost unfortunately, but the moment I came back (in the locker room) I was yelling at my coaches. My wife was there and I thought, ‘We’re fighting now, I’ll beat him again! Now, I’ll beat him!’ I was so angry: ‘I will fight him tomorrow.’ That was the stepping stone right there. It definitely helped me and took a step forward for me.”

Miocic eventually got his redemption. Three years later, this time as the reigning UFC heavyweight champion, Miocic made easy work of his rival with a first-round knockout at UFC 211.

But that initial feeling Miocic felt after the first Dos Santos fight turned out to be correct. A historic run followed Miocic immediately after that loss, and Mother of God followed with force.

People can pick holes and dissect someone’s record in any sport; what cannot be argued is performance. To cover UFC on Fox 13, Miocic flew all the way to Australia and handed Mark Hunt one of the most brutal beatings ever inside the Octagon.

The victory may be a forgotten relic almost a decade later, but at the time it was a truly ‘holy’ moment. In nearly 23 minutes, Miocic set the record for most head strikes in a UFC fight at 330. Overall, he outscored Hunt 361 to 46 and knocked him out six times with nearly 17 minutes of control time.

The fight became uncomfortable to watch.

“It’s also weird,” Miocic said, “because the fight happened at 1 p.m. It was tough to be ready at 3 p.m. and (it’s like), ‘What are we doing for the next eight to 10 hours?’ We had fun, but it was just a great fight.”

A year later Miocic became champion. When he steps into the Octagon at UFC 309, he will have fought in nine straight UFC title fights. He holds the records for most heavyweight title defenses, both consecutive (3) and cumulative (4). And there is no shortage of highlights.

However, in the midst of creating his legacy is a victory that should not be forgotten.

UFC 203 was the only time – and will likely remain the only time – that Miocic fought at home in Cleveland during the promotion. Standing in his way was one of the most feared knockout artists of all time, Alistair Overeem, who ultimately captured his first career UFC title in the 2016 showdown.

As a perpetual underdog, Miocic overcame adversity as he has done in the past. It was his first title defense and yet another in a series of first-round knockouts of heavyweight legends.

If there’s one moment to sum up his story, for Miocic, it’s that one moment, back where it all started.

“When I walk out like this, I still get goosebumps just thinking about it,” he said. “When someone chants your name, thousands of people, it’s surreal.”

The fighting pride of Ohio exceeded expectations on all fronts in MMA. Miocic was already one of the greatest, but another upset over the arguable pinnacle of greatness in Jones would elevate Miocic to a new stratosphere.

But defying the odds is, after all, the story of his career.