After his open workout Wednesday, Overeem says he is entering the main event of UFC 203 at Quicken Loans Arena tonight as the hungriest fighter in the heavyweight division. It’s been a busy year for the OH native.
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But the fight wasn’t without controversy, Overeem suggesting that Miocic tapped out while he was in the guillotine.
Miocic got on top and landed a hammerfist and landed a series of ground and pound punches, which knocked out Overeem.
LeBron James may get all the attention in the sports world as the face of Cleveland sports, but Miocic embodies everything that the city of Cleveland and its residents are all about.
Overeem is supremely confident but isn’t underestimating Miocic, a man he called a unsafe fighter who is champion for a reason. “I’ve trained super hard and I’ve trained too hard to give this up”.
“I train that s-t every day”, said Miocic (16-2), who has won seven of his past eight fights.
Miocic and Overeem are well-rounded fighters who excel in striking. It’s inevitable once I touch him with my hands. Miocic vs. Overeem promises lots of action for MMA fans. On several occasions, Overeem literally ran away from Miocic in an effort to circle away from the pressure.
The arena exploded with almost deafening cheers when Miocic turned out Overeem’s (41-15 MMA, 6-4 UFC) lights with vicious ground and pound. The champion eventually broke free but the challenger claimed afterwards that Miocic tapped.
Stipe and his opponent Alistair Overeem were professional on stage but another local fighter, Jennifer Eye got into a scuffle with her opponent.
The Stipe who is fighting Saturday night on Pay-Per-View, the champ said, is the best version to date. “He’s a great athlete”. Overeem, meanwhile, has a background in kickboxing and muay thai and has shown he can win while standing up.
Dollaway was scheduled to make his light heavyweight debut against Francimar Barroso, but the 33-year-old sustained a back injury. He said that his goal at UFC 203 was to shut Overeem down and “turn the motherboard off”, something he convincingly accomplished after quickly recovering from the knockdown.
The middleweight had lost three of his past four fights after winning five straight.
Miocic will be hoping that his reign as UFC Heavyweight Champion will last more than one fight, “I worked so hard to get this belt, why wouldn’t I want to keep it?” he said.
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Elsewhere on the main card, former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum – who Miocic dethroned earlier this year – bounced back by overcoming Travis Browne for the second time.
