OH does have something to be proud of this weekend: the championship belt around the waist of Stipe Miocic.
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However, Miocic says that he has trained even harder for his title defense than he did when he knocked out Fabricio Werdum in the first round at UFC 198.
After a 20-year career in professional wrestling, Brooks leveraged that star power as the former WWE champion, into becoming a member of the UFC.
The main card is due to begin at 3am BST, so rejoin us then for LIVE fight updates, but until then, VAVEL.com is full of top quality content to keep you entertained! “For 52 years we had nothing and we needed something to be proud of”.
“I recently lost three fights but that’s happened before, I recall it in 2006-07, but if you compete at the top you will sometimes lose”, he said. For example, I went to UFC 200. “Nothing is better than that”.
However, that could all change on Saturday as the former Strikeforce, DREAM and K-1 champion takes on UFC heavyweight kingpin Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 203 in Cleveland, Ohio.
We’ve talked a lot this week about CM Punk and his chances of picking up a UFC victory over the fellow inexperienced Mickey Gall. Miocic can’t let Overeem get into a groove. The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder’s workouts have drawn big crowds and hundreds of fans were at the news conference, with many of them shouting out encouragement to Miocic, who responded with a quick smile and clenched fist.
His engagement this weekend with Overeem has some parallels to his fight against Werdum.
Werdum did a god job promoting his fight with Miocic in Brazil. Werdum may have been slightly overconfident on his home turf, and he paid for it.
Make no mistake: Rivera is game. It’s true that “The California Kid” isn’t what he used to be but he is the gatekeeper in the division but I think this one will go to a decision and with Faber getting +150 he’s the way to go. I match up well [against Overeem]. I deserved an immediate rematch since I was coming off six wins in a row, but I knew the UFC wouldn’t give it to me.
“He’s definitely ready”, said Bojan Miocic, Stipe’s younger brother. On the other hand there’s the extra appearances that you have to do. It depends on how you handle it. “My training was very good, everything was OK, he just got me with a very good punch”. It was a good win, but Calderwood demolished title challenger Valerie Letourneau in her last outting.
Overeem has been targeted by some verbal taunts from Miocic supporters, who can’t fathom the idea of him winning in Cleveland.
I’m reluctant to pick against such a crafty veteran, but I’ve seen enough warning signs in his recent performances to feel that perhaps Rivera can get the better of him here.
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Remaining calm in the chaos helps, and Miocic is an expert in that field thanks to his part-time work as a fireman-paramedic that requires shifts one or four days a week depending on his fight schedule.
