​​By Shawn W. Smith 

If you still weren’t buying into Stipe Miocic as the UFC’s world heavyweight champion, his UFC 211 performance changed that.

In the main event, Miocic made easy work of Junior dos Santos, dispatching the former heavyweight champion in just over two minutes at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Miocic used his jab early to measure the distance before backing dos Santos against the cage and unleashing a lethal right hook behind the ear that instantly dropped the challenger to the mat. Miocic followed up with short punches to the face, forcing referee Herb Dean to stop the fight.

The bout was sweet revenge for Miocic, who lost a close unanimous decision to dos Santos in December of 2014. It was Miocic’s second title defense and fifth straight victory.

A quickly aging dos Santos has lost five of his last nine bouts, not being able to string together consecutive wins since he lost his world title to Cain Velasquez in December of 2012. While only 33, dos Santos looked like a fighter who will continue to struggle at the highest levels of mixed martial arts.

While there’s no telling what’s next for Miocic, a fresh matchup against former champion Cain Velasquez or rising star Francis Ngannou both make a lot of sense.