Stipe Miocic just remembers one thing, and that’s knocking out Alistair Overeem. There is little expectation of a McGregor-Diaz style 25 minute main event battle, as both Miocic and Overeem are big bomb specialists so one or the other is bound to walk into a thundering fist before long.
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Tonight’s main fight for UFC 203 pits one of the heavyweight division’s newest contenders against one of the most experienced veterans in the division.
When the challenger was faced with the question of challenging for the title in Miocic’s hometown, Overeem took a few shots at the city and the fans who have heckled him during fight week. Miocic then showed his championship grit as he not only escaped the submission, but immediately drove back to his feet and went on the offensive.
The pressure seemingly rests on the shoulders of Miocic, who defends in his hometown after arguably breaking the curse of Cleveland sports when he became a champion.
In an emotional post-fight press conference, Punk vowed to continue fighting but admitted his future probably lies away from the UFC. Moments later, he took the microphone and yelled “O-H” to the crowd, which responded “I-0”, to its local champ, whose knock out of Fabricio Werdum this spring was followed by the Cavaliers overcoming a 3-1 deficit to beat Golden State in the NBA Finals. Even though Overeem is strong at distance, Miocic is highly likely to have more stamina if the fight goes that way, and he would be looking for an opening to end the bout with a large punch. The champ stated that he has worked hard for the fight and he stressed out that Overeem will experience how he won the title come fight night.
Overeem claimed that since winning the title, Miocic has been living the high life and not preparing properly for their upcoming match-up. “I remember punching him in the face until he was unconscious”. However, this event will also feature the MMA debut of former WWE star Phil “CM Punk” Brooks. Also, former WWE superstar CM Punk makes his long-awaited UFC debut against up-and-comer Mickey Gall in welterweight action.
Punk almost got free, but Gall regained a dominant position and squeezed his opponent’s head like he wanted to snap it off.
Earlier on in the evening, the prelim fights saw UFC veteran Nik Lentz win with a second-round KO of Michael McBride, a late stand-in for up and coming Chechen Mairbek Taisumov, who had to pull out because of problems with his visa. “I’m going to win”, Miocic said.
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“I’m going to go out there and do my job”. “I’ve trained super hard and I’ve trained too hard to give this up”.
