Stipe Miocic and Junior Dos Santos are fighting for more than the UFC heavyweight belt, they're fighting to be the baddest man on the planet. Don't miss the action on May 13 live on Pay-Per-View. That's why dos Santos is happy to make a prediction for his fight against Miocic — one with a much different outcome than the 25-minute instant classic they put on the last time.

1. Dos Santos Miocic Predictions
2. Dos Santos Miocic Prediction

Stipe Miocic vs Junior Dos Santos. Stipe Miocic (-140) isn’t the flashiest fighter in the division but is one of the most technically sound and athletic heavyweights in the world. Miocic’s game is built around a great boxing game that capitalizes on his experience in that sport. At this point in time, Miocic is the more accurate striker and accuracy usually wins the race. If dos Santos can end the fight within two rounds he has a great chance to win.

Preview and predictions for UFC 252: Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier 3.

Stipe Miocic is currently in his second run as UFC heavyweight champion — and he's the only man to have ever defended the belt three consecutive times. Daniel Cormier won heavyweight gold in Strikeforce and claimed heavyweight and light heavyweight gold in the UFC, becoming the second champ-champ in UFC history. Both hold a win over one another, and on Aug. 15, this classic and important heavyweight championship rivalry comes to an end in a trilogy bout that headlines UFC 252.

Both men hold a victory over one another. Cormier defeated Miocic via first-round knockout at UFC 226 to score his simultaneous two-division champ status. Just over a year later, at UFC 241, Miocic finished Cormier in the fourth round of their rematch to win back the gold.

Who will win the trilogy bout at UFC 252: Stipe Miocic or Daniel Cormier?

Miocic's loss to Cormier is his sole defeat since 2015, and he's scored six finishes and five post-fight bonuses in his seven victories in that time. Cormier's loss to Miocic was just the second of his career, and Miocic — by the record book — became the first to finish Cormier on that night (Remember the loss to Jon Jones via third-round TKO was overturned after Jones failed drug tests).

UFC 252's co-main event will see the highly-touted and hyped Sean O'Malley take on Marlon Vera. After two years away from the Octagon, O'Malley has impressed in 2020 with a first-round TKO of Jose Alberto Quinonez and a first-round knockout of Eddie Wineland — earning performance bonuses in both and a Knockout of the Year nomination in the latter. Vera, meanwhile, enters after seeing a five-fight win streak come to a hand at the hands of Song Yadong earlier this year.

UFC 252's main card will also feature another heavyweight collision in Junior dos Santos vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, as well as a bantamweight clash between John Dodson and Merab Dvalishvili, and… The prelims will include fighters such as Jim Miller, Ashley Yoder, Felice Herrig and more.

This piece will take a look at the five main card bouts at UFC 252 and attempt to select the winner in each.

Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)

Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier III

After a series of impressive performances throughout his UFC run against the likes of Roy Nelson, Mark Hunt and Fabio Maldonado, Stipe Micoic knocked out Fabricio Werdum at UFC 198 to win the UFC heavyweight championship. He became the first man to successfully defend the title three consecutive times with finishes of Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos, as well as a unanimous decision over Francis Ngannou. Miocic dropped the title to Daniel Cormier, suffering a first-round knockout loss, but regained the title with a fourth-round TKO in the rematch.

Cormier broke through in his MMA career when he entered the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix as a replacement, upsetting Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva and defeating Josh Barnett to become the final Strikeforce heavyweight champion. He'd have two heavyweight bouts in the UFC before dropping down to 205, where he'd unsuccessfully challenge Jon Jones for the UFC title in his first career loss before winning the vacant title against Anthony Johnson at UFC 187. He'd defend the title against Alexander Gustafsson and Johnson, along with a non-title win over Anderson Silva, before losing the title to Jones — only to get it back after Jones failed drug tests. He'd then retain against Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220 before defeating Miocic in their first encounter. He'd retain the heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230. When a heavily-hyped bout with Brock Lesnar fell through, Cormier and Miocic rematched, with Miocic finishing Cormier to win the heavyweight title back. This trilogy bout will mark the final fight of Cormier's MMA career.

Per FightMetics, Miocic enters with a five-inch height advantage and eight-inch reach advantage. While Miocic has landed more strikes per minute and absorbed more per minute on average, both men's striking accuracy and defense percentages are the exact same. He also slightly edges Cormier on average takedowns per fight, but the pair also have very similar takedown accuracy and defense percentages.

Both of these guys know each other inside and out; they should after facing each other twice. Cormier was able to get inside on Miocic in the first fight and land a devastating elbow for the knockout. Miocic learned his lessons from the first fight, and while Cormier got the better of Micoic early on in the second meeting, Miocic used his reach and his superior boxing to rock Cormier's body and drop him in the fourth.

Cormier will look to get on the inside and take Miocic down, where Cormier feels most at home. But people may forget just like how Cormier is better known for his Olympic-level wrestling but can produce powerful strikes, Miocic, on the flip, is a tremendous boxer but can hold his own on the ground as a former NCAA wrestler. And on the feet, Miocic should be able to hold his own as long as he keeps the distance.

Dos Santos Miocic Predictions

Cormier has admitted that he has worked on his cardio, which is great, but maybe Miocic still has a bit more in the tank — focused on making sure to prove that the first fight was just a slip-up and that we are still living in the Stipe era of the UFC heavyweight division.

Is the winner of this heavyweight trilogy the GOAT? That's debatable. But is the winner surely going to etch his name in the annals of history? For sure, and even then, who says they both haven't already? But every rivalry needs a winner and a loser, and while DC can surely win this fight, the signs right now (in this writer's eyes at least) point to a similar fashion of the second bout's nature.

Prediction: Miocic via third-round KO/TKO

Sean O'Malley vs. Marlon Vera

Sean O'Malley won his first seven bouts with five knockouts before knocking out Alfred Khashakyan on season one of Dana White's Contender Series, earning a UFC contract in the process. O'Malley scored unanimous decisions over Terrion Ware and Andre Soukhamthath before injury and run-ins with USADA forced him to the sidelines for two years. O'Malley returned this year with a first-round TKO of Jose Alberto Quinonez at UFC 248 and a first-round knockout of Eddie Wineland at UFC 250.

After dropping two of his first three UFC contests, Vera went on a three-fight win streak before a pair of losses to John Lineker and Douglas Silva de Andrade. Vera, however, rebounded with a five-fight win streak, which included an 85-second finish of Frankie Saenz and a third-round finish of Andre Ewell. Vera's win streak came to an end in Jacksonville in May, losing a featherweight bout with Song Yadong that won Fight of the Night honors.

O'Malley has a three-inch height advantage and two reach edge. Per FightMetrics, O'Malley blows away Vera in the strikes landed area and has a decent edge in striking defense. In the grappling department, O'Malley edges Vera in takedown offense, but Vera has a slight edge in takedown defense.

People are right when they say Vera may be O'Malley's toughest test, and with Vera as tough as he is, this one just might have a chance of getting out of the first round unlike O'Malley's other two opponents this year. But O'Malley has the reach and is aggressive in his striking, so Vera will have to be careful of O'Malley's pressure. If the fight goes to the ground, Vera will have the resistance (let alone the resistance to prevent such from happening), but O'Malley should be perfectly comfortable.

While there's a chance Vera ends up being too much, right now he shouldn't be someone O'Malley can't handle.

Prediction: O'Malley via second-round KO/TKO

WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 07: (L-R) Jairzinho Rozenstruik of Suriname punches Alistair Overeem of Netherlands in their heavyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at Capital One Arena on December 07, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Junior dos Santos vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Junior dos Santos once reigned over the UFC's heavyweight division when he knocked out Cain Velasquez in 64 seconds. He retained the title against Frank Mir but dropped the title back to Velasquez and was stopped in their trilogy fight. JDS would then defeat Stipe Miocic, lose to Alistair Overeem and defeat Ben Rothwell before he and Miocic rematched at UFC 211 — this time with the heavyweight title on the line and this time with Miocic winning. After serving a USADA suspension, JDS racked up three straight wins over Blagoy Ivanov, Tai Tuivasa and Derrick Lewis before suffering TKO losses to Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes.

Once a kickboxing champion, Jairzinho Rozenstruik made his UFC debut as a 6-0 fighter in 2019. In that one year, Rozenstruik finished Junior Albini, knocked out Allen Crowder in nine seconds, knocked out Andrei Arlovski at Madison Square Garden in 29 seconds and knocked out Overeem mere seconds away from losing a one-sided decision. Rozenstruik suffered his first MMA defeat earlier this year at UFC 249, getting knocked out in 20 seconds by Ngannou.

Per FightMetrics, the two are (Mike Goldberg voice) virtually identical in their Tale of the Tape. JDS has landed more strikes on average, but their striking accuracies are the same. Their strikes absorbed averages are also similar, but Rozenstruik has absorbed a ton of damage as of late between the beating he took from Overeem and the knockout loss to Ngannou — though that's not counting out all the damage JDS has taken in his career. And while Rozenstruik has displayed decent (at best) takedown defense so far, we haven't really seen him much there as he's been in stand-and-trade wars.

Dos Santos Miocic Prediction

JDS has unquestionably been a great heavyweight for this past decade or so, and he has experience competing against some of the other bests there have been in the division. But, because of that, he's taken a lot of damage — and that chin may not be as up to par as it used to be. JDS' time on top may be all but up, as he's now lost to two younger contenders in Ngannou and Blaydes.

As stated, Rozenstruik, on the other end, has taken a lot of damage in his last couple of fights. He's also had a nice journey into kickboxing — but up until the Ngannou fight, he hadn't been knocked out since 2012. He's run through competition, and the win over Overeem — even though he was near close from losing a one-sided decision — is still a big positive. This matchup is perfect for Rozenstruik, as JDS had been winning before the two losses to Ngannou and Blaydes.

Can Rozenstruik prove that he's like the mentioned pair and show he truly belongs in the heavyweight top contender scene already? Or will dos Santos prove that Rozenstruik was pushed too quickly and maintain his own standing? The second question can be debated even in a Rozenstruik win here, but the former kickboxer should be able to take his power, speed and pressure to the former heavyweight champ and get back on track — and give JDS his first three-fight losing streak in the process.

Prediction: Rozenstruik via first-round KO/TKO

Herbert Burns vs. Daniel Pineda

This fight, originally scheduled for the early prelims, takes the place of Ion Cutelaba vs. Magomed Ankalaev 2 after Cutelaba tested positive for coronavirus.

The younger brother of fellow UFC fighter Gilbert Burns, Herbert Burns had success competing for ONE Championship and Titan FC before submitting Darrick Minner to earn a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series last year. This year has seen Burns score first-round finishes of Darrick Minner and Evan Dunham at UFC Raleigh and UFC 250, respectively.

After a five-fight win streak in Legacy FC, Daniel Pineda first appeared in the UFC between 2012 and 2014. He'd defeat Pat Schilling and Mackens Semerzier before suffering losses to Mike Brown and Antonio Carvalho. Pineda defeated Justin Lawrence but lost to Diego Brandao and Robert Whiteford before he and the UFC parted ways. Pineda then won six of eight while competing for LFC, Bellator and Fury FC before joining the Professional Fighters League in the middle of its 2019 season. He scored first-round finishes of Movlid Khaibulaev and Jeremy Kennedy on the same night to reach the featherweight finals but was pulled from the final, and the wins overturned to no contests, after failing a drug test. Pineda re-signed with the UFC this year.

According to FightMetrics, Burns will have a two-inch height edge and three-inch reach advantage. The rest don't really hold up all too much with Pineda's long absence from the UFC, but for what it's worth, the two have very similar striking accuracy and defense percentages. Burns has a higher strikes absorbed ratio, but that may be chalked up to Darrick Minner's strong start against him on the Contender Series. But of course, Burns is better known for his grappling, and in just two official Octagon bouts, plus the DWCS bout, he's averaging between four and five takedowns per 15 minutes and averaging seven submission attempts in the 15 minutes — like his brother, Herbert Burns is a grappling machine.

James Lynch provided an interesting conspiracy theory on that Pineda may have been re-signed off the two no-contests because of a grudge from Dominance MMA, which Kennedy is a member of. But even if that's not true, let's call this fight what it is — a sacrifice. Pineda is just the latest to be fed to the wolves, and the wolves represent the hype and rise surrounding the extremely talented and dangerous Burns. Burns is clearly the better fighter in here and there very well could be questions if Pineda deserves a return to the UFC. Beating two guys in one night on short notice sounds great and praiseworthy, but it'll forever be scarred by the failed drug test.

As mentioned, expect another dominance from Burns (no play on words intended), especially if he gets the fight to the ground fast.

Prediction: Burns via first-round submission

John Dodson vs. Merab Dvalishvili

The bantamweight winner of season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter, John Dodson had success at flyweight with wins over Tim Elliott, Jussier Formiga and John Moraga, but he was defeated twice in flyweight title fights with Demetrious Johnson. Dodson then returned to bantamweight, where he's had mixed results since, dropping split decisions to John Lineker and Marlon Moraes and unanimous decision against Jimmie Rivera and current 135 champ Petr Yan. Dodson has scored decision wins over Eddie Wineland Pedro Munhoz, and in his most recent performance, Dodson finished Nathaniel Wood earlier this year at UFC Rio Rancho.

After knocking out top prospect Raufeon Stots in 15 seconds on Dana White's Lookin' for a Fight, Merab Dvalishvili dropped bouts to Frankie Saenz and Ricky Simon before going on his current four-fight win streak, where he's taken unanimous decisions over Terrion Ware, Brad Katona, Casey Kenney and Gustavo Lopez.

Dvalishvili will have a three-inch height edge and two-inch reach edge in this contest, according to the FightMetrics. While Dvalishvili has the edge in terms of the average amount of strikes landed and absorbed per minute, the two have very similar striking accuracy and defense percentages. But the ground game is a completely different story: Dvalishvili loves to take the action to the ground and has an average of eight takedowns per 15 minutes — he's set the UFC bantamweight record for most takedowns in a single fight twice now (he secured 13 against Lopez) and his wrestling game just continues to evolve over time.

Dodson may not have the momentum that Dvalishvili has, but it'll be interesting to see how Dvalishvili reacts to Dodson and his training under Greg Jackson. Dodson is tough with great striking and he's not the easiest guy to keep down. Plus, Dodson is older but does still have some of his finishing power in his strikes.

Fortunately for Dvalishvili, he's been impressive in his UFC run, and hopefully for him, it's a win that continues to build his name.

Prediction: Dvalishvili via unanimous decision

UFC 252 takes place on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2020, live from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, NV. Follow along with FanSided, who will be onsite, for all your live news and highlights.