The UFC 203 main card will open with a pivotal women’s strawweight fight between Joanne Calderwood and Jessica Andrade.
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On Thursday, the final pre-fight press conference for UFC 203 took place at the venue that will host the PPV event this Saturday evening, the Quicken Loans Arena. “It could be Cleveland, it could be Brazil again”.
Stipe Miocic beat LeBron James to the punch.
“I believe when I punched him and he went down, I followed him and I got him in the guillotine choke”, Overeem said.
UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic will defend his title against Alistair Overeem, and CM Punk makes his MMA debut Saturday at UFC 203.
Stipe Miocic, born in Euclid and residing in Independence, won the UFC Heavyweight Championship back in May at UFC 198 by knocking out Fabricio Werdum, a man many were starting to consider the best heavyweight UFC history, in the first round with a powerful right hook.
The Miocic vs Overeem fight will likely being around 1:45pm (AEST), though this may very significantly depending on the results of the earlier fights. Miocic, who recovered quickly from the knockdown after getting back to his feet, also said he wasn’t in danger on the choke. Not long after, Miocic started to land on Overeem, who tried to circle around but Miocic timed his shots perfectly and kept circling Overeem into the cage. “I’ve trained super hard and I’ve trained too hard to give this up”.
But Miocic said he isn’t anxious about his homecoming narrative entering Saturday’s fight, admitting it will be no different than if he were training in Brazil with no one worrying about him. “First of all he’s a veteran and he’s fought the best in the world”, Miocic said. Overeem went for a kick to the knee and slipped, and Miocic went work.
Overeem was insistent when speaking to UFC commentator Joe Rogan after the defeat when speaking about Miocic’s alleged tap. “I’m nervous and everything, but once the Octagon door closes, it’s game on”. I just remember punching him in the face repeatedly until he was unconscious.
It is rare that any fighter with as little experience as Punk or Gall would get to fight in the UFC.
Heading into the bout, Punk’s confidence was high. “I’m very much looking forward to Saturday”.
The 24-year-old Gall never doubted he would crush Punk. “I know it is”.
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“Of course, I expect him to do everything”. Fabricio Werdum vs Travis Browne sorta got lost in the shuffle but had implications at the heavyweight division.
