CLEVELAND: Stipe Miocic wouldn’t let his hometown down.
The heavyweight champion kept his title with another Cleveland comeback.
Floored by a punch early on, Miocic recovered and knocked out Alistair Overeem at 4:27 of the first round to conclude UFC 203 on Saturday night in front of more than 20,000 fans.
Miocic, whose title in in May set off a run of championships in a city that didn’t celebrate one for 52 years, was in big trouble after Overeem caught him on the jaw with a short left. Overeem pounced on Miocic, a Cleveland fire fighter, and put him in a guillotine hold as he tried to choke him out. But the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Miocic, urged by the crowd chanting “Stee-pay, Stee-pay,” escaped the hold and quickly pressed the action.
In the final minute of the round, Miocic stunned Overeem with a punch and then held him down and delivered four devastating right-handed punches to the challenger’s head to finish him off.
“He hit harder than I thought, he knocked me down but I wasn’t hurt,” Miocic said. “I said I would keep this belt for a long time and I did it. I wanted to shut him down, turn the mother board off.”
When the fight was stopped, Miocic climbed on top of the octagon’s chained fencing and straddled the cage in triumph. Moments later, he took the microphone and yelled “O-H” to the crowd, which responded “I-0,” to its local champ.
Earlier, former WWE star CM Punk was pounded in less than three minutes of his MMA debut.
The heavyweight champion kept his title with another Cleveland comeback.
Floored by a punch early on, Miocic recovered and knocked out Alistair Overeem at 4:27 of the first round to conclude UFC 203 on Saturday night in front of more than 20,000 fans.
Miocic, whose title in in May set off a run of championships in a city that didn’t celebrate one for 52 years, was in big trouble after Overeem caught him on the jaw with a short left. Overeem pounced on Miocic, a Cleveland fire fighter, and put him in a guillotine hold as he tried to choke him out. But the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Miocic, urged by the crowd chanting “Stee-pay, Stee-pay,” escaped the hold and quickly pressed the action.
In the final minute of the round, Miocic stunned Overeem with a punch and then held him down and delivered four devastating right-handed punches to the challenger’s head to finish him off.
“He hit harder than I thought, he knocked me down but I wasn’t hurt,” Miocic said. “I said I would keep this belt for a long time and I did it. I wanted to shut him down, turn the mother board off.”
When the fight was stopped, Miocic climbed on top of the octagon’s chained fencing and straddled the cage in triumph. Moments later, he took the microphone and yelled “O-H” to the crowd, which responded “I-0,” to its local champ.
Earlier, former WWE star CM Punk was pounded in less than three minutes of his MMA debut.
