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Former UFC champion Stipe Miocic raises money for fallen firefighters in Fight2Win grappling debut

Former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic competed in a grappling match against Aaron Howard in the Fight2Win 110 event at the NEO Sports Plant in Euclid, Ohio Saturday night.
Credit: Matt Florjancic
Former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic (left) competed in a grappling match against Aaron Howard (right) in the Fight2Win 110 event at the NEO Sports Plant in Euclid, Ohio Saturday night.

EUCLID, Ohio — Former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic made his return to the combat sports world on Saturday night, but instead of stepping into the famed octagon, he participated in a grappling event to raise money for charity.

Although Miocic lost via decision to Plain City, Ohio police officer Aaron Howard in the Fight2Win 110 event at the NEO Sports Plant on Saturday night, he donated his entire purse to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, a cause near and dear to the heart of the part-time paramedic/firefighter in Oakwood Village and Valley View.

“It was a great experience just to be back home,” Miocic said. “My family lives 15 minutes away. All of my friends and family came and were hanging out. It was just good to get back here and hang out, and like I said, it’s for a good cause. I’m excited.

“It’s amazing. It’s just nice to do and I’m here to help, as much as I can do. If I could do it on a bigger platform, I would and I am.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic
Former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic (black gi) competed in a grappling match against Aaron Howard (white gi) in the Fight2Win 110 event at the NEO Sports Plant in Euclid, Ohio Saturday night.

Howard improved to 3-0 in Fight2Win competition with the decision victory over Miocic, but more than that, he gained a greater appreciation for the former UFC heavyweight champion after going through the eight-minute grappling match with him.

“He’s so athletic, so powerful,” Howard said. “I could feel his wrestling right out of the gate. Such a great champion. It was such an honor to be across the ring from him.

“When we were staring down in the ring, the announcer said, ‘the greatest heavyweight of all time,’ and I looked him in the eyes, shook my head, ‘Yeah,’ because he is the greatest heavyweight of all time, and I was thinking the whole time, he’s had that stare down with a lot of athletes, a lot of higher-caliber people than me and it’s just an honor to be out there facing him.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic
Former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic (black gi) competed in a grappling match against Aaron Howard (white gi) in the Fight2Win 110 event at the NEO Sports Plant in Euclid, Ohio Saturday night.

To Howard, by taking the bout on short notice and having never fought in a Fight2Win event before in order to raise money for charity, Miocic is an even bigger hero to the community than he is in the fight game.

“Him being a firefighter, you could say greatest heavyweight champion, but he’s a hero to other people just because of that,” Howard said.

“He puts his life on the line when he doesn’t have to. He doesn’t have to go out and do those things. He chooses to because he cares, just like he did with this. He didn’t have to do this. He was trying to raise awareness just to prove he’s an even greater champion.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic
Former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic (black gi) competed in a grappling match against Aaron Howard (white gi) in the Fight2Win 110 event at the NEO Sports Plant in Euclid, Ohio Saturday night.

Miocic plans to grapple with Howard again in the future, but until then, he’s going to continue his pursuit of regaining the UFC heavyweight championship.

“Right now, I’m going to keep getting better, keep training hard, work on my jiu-jitsu a bit, work on my D some more, but honestly, overall, I’m just waiting for that call and being ready and doing some more good stuff,” Miocic said.

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