If you watched the main event of UFC 203, you surely saw the incredibly unusual interview with Alistair Overeem that followed it.
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Stipe Miocic defended the UFC heavyweight belt in emphatic fashion in front of a hometown Cleveland crowd at UFC 203.
Overeem, a highly-decorated heavyweight and former kickboxing world champion, said in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan that he believed Miocic tapped out when Overeem had the guillotine briefly locked in.
Stipe Miocic was the victor, but when his heavyweight title bout with Alistair Overeem ended, he couldn’t quite remember what had happened. Here is Overeem’s complete statement.
When all is said and done, these are the names that people will talk about after UFC 203, for better or worse. “He’s a great athlete, he’s tough”. I won the fight. The referee didn’t see it and he didn’t jump in, so the fight continued. In my opinion, he tapped and it’s a bummer. Overeem lands a hard body kick and then runs out of the way out of a head kick.
Just climbing the steps into the octagon was something of a victory for Punk, who became a villain of sorts inside UFC circles as fans, wrestlers and fellow fighters questioned his motives for taking up a new sport with no experience. Rogan has worked for the UFC since 1997.
Early in the first round, Miocic was pursuing Overeem when he got caught with a punch to the jaw and fell backwards.
But, according to Rogan’s recent tweets, it was very clear that Alistair hadn’t quite shaken the cobwebs of the knockout, and his perception of reality and memory was severely impaired during his speech.
Two hard right hands left Overeem unconscious and officially guaranteed the UFC championship would remain in Ohio. Overeem was originally supposed to fight for the UFC title in 2012 but lost the opportunity when he failed a random drug test in Nevada.
It’s common sense that a fighter who has just been knocked out might not be thinking clearly immediately afterwards.
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Rogan explained his feelings and why the footage was played back in the post-fight interview.
