Stipe Miocic Discusses Relationship with Dana White, Satisfied with Pay for UFC 226

Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic doesn’t need to be best friends with UFC president Dana White.

In January after defeating highly touted knockout artist Francis Ngannou at UFC 220, Miocic famously took the heavyweight title away from White and allowed his coach to wrap the belt around his waist instead.

In the aftermath, Miocic simply stated that he wanted his coach Marcus Marinelli to put the title on him because ‘he respects me and I respect him’. Perhaps that was a subtle dig at White but Miocic didn’t elaborate any further and it led to questions about the relationship the heavyweight champion had with his boss.

Ahead of his fight at UFC 226 against Daniel Cormier, Miocic spent the better part of six weeks coaching “The Ultimate Fighter” where he spent a lot more time with White than he had previously during his career.

While those close quarters might make it odd for some people, Miocic didn’t seem to care much that he was around White more than usual and says their relationship is what you’d expect out of an athlete and the president of a promotion.

“He’s my boss, what do you want me to do. I didn’t see him everyday. It was all good,” Miocic said about White. “He was fine. Cordial ‘hi, how you doing, good to see you, good to see you, too’.

“No [animosity]. I’ve got other things to worry about.”

One of the bigger questions revolving around Miocic’s original statement about respect was whether or not the longest reigning heavyweight champion in UFC history felt he was getting his due when it came to the financial side of his agreement with the promotion.

Miocic had raised valid questions about his salary after UFC 203 in 2016 when it was revealed that he was making $200,000 less than his opponent Alistair Overeem, who he knocked out in the first round.

Ahead of his showdown with Cormier on July 7, Miocic and his team came to a new agreement with the UFC and while terms of the deal were not disclosed, the heavyweight champion seemed satisfied with the contract.

“Yeah, definitely I think so,” Miocic said when asked if he was happy with his pay for the fight. “I have a great management team that took care of that. I really didn’t have nothing to do with that. I’m happy with the team I’ve got. We have a lot of good people in our court.”

Miocic will look to prove why he’s worth that money when he attempts to defend his title for the fourth consecutive time against Cormier on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Check out the rest of the full length interview with Stipe Miocic ahead of his fight at UFC 226