Daniel Cormier to move up in weight for UFC 226 heavyweight title bout vs. Stipe Miocic

ByBRETT OKAMOTO
January 26, 2018, 6:39 PM

— -- A UFC superfight between champions Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier will headline UFC 226 on July 7 in Las Vegas.

Officials announced the main event on Friday. Miocic (18-2) will be seeking his fourth consecutive heavyweight title defense. Cormier (20-1), the UFC's light heavyweight champion, will move up in weight.

The UFC 226 pay-per-view event will take place at T-Mobile Arena.

It is the first UFC title fight between two undisputed champions since then-featherweight champion Conor McGregor moved up in weight to challenge Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title.

It's one of several "champion vs. champion" title fights the UFC is seeking this year. UFC president Dana White has also expressed interest in bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw moving down to face flyweight titleholder Demetrious Johnson. He has also referred to a fight between female bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and featherweight champion Cris 'Cyborg' Justino as "the fight to make."

Before headlining UFC 226, Miocic and Cormier will serve as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter reality series, which is set to feature cast members with undefeated records.

Miocic, of Cleveland, is coming off a successful title defense against Francis Ngannou at UFC 220 last weekend. The 35-year-old set a new UFC record for the most consecutive heavyweight title defenses. Fighting out of American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California, Cormier also defended his title at UFC 220, as he knocked out Volkan Oezdemir in the second round. Cormier's only professional loss is against Jon Jones, at UFC 182 in 2015. He intends to retire by March 2019.