UFC 203: Stipe Miocic Defends Belt in Stunning Fashion

UFC 203 was capped off with an incredible round of heavyweight action, with Stipe Miocic ending up on the right end of a great back-and-forth fight.

UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic’s first title defense was in front of his home crowd of Cleveland. He went from defeating the best heavyweight jiu-jitsu practitioner currently on the roster, to fighting arguably the best heavyweight striker in his first title defense.

Alistair Overeem earned his title shot after going on an absolute tear that followed a few disappointing losses in the beginning of his UFC run. With brutal knockout victories over Junior dos Santos and Andrei Arlovski that extended his win streak to four, he was clearly next in line for a shot at the title.

Stipe Miocic has been incredibly successful in the Octagon throughout his career. The Ohio native received his title shot at UFC 198 with an 8-2 record and a two fight win streak with wins over Mark Hunt and Andrei Arlovski. Miocic’s quick knockout of Fabricio Werdum earned him the heavyweight strap and catapulted him up the pound-for-pound ranks.

Alistair Overeem started the fight at a very distant range. Miocic chased him down similar to how Werdum chased Miocic down without the consequence.

Alistair Overeem knocked Miocic down after literally running to reset, then slapped on a guillotine. Miocic defended beautifully then stood up. Miocic’s first significant strike was part of a beautiful combination. Miocic began to swarm Overeem, who has a bad tendency to back himself to the fence.

Both men are consistently rocking each other. Miocic began to get the upper hand again by backing Overeem to the fence. Then Stipe Miocic got the takedown.

From guard Miocic postured up and began to rain down punches on Overeem. The challenger failed to defend cleanly and was put out cold by the punches! It’s going to be difficult to get this belt away from Stipe.

Overeem claimed afterwards that Miocic tapped due to the guillotine, but a replay thwarted Overeem’s claims.

Next up for the champion has to be Cain Velasquez. Velasquez returned from injury in a huge way by destroying Travis Browne at UFC 200. Miocic and the former champion have very similar styles, and that fight would be excellent.