UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic won Cleveland's first-ever championship in 52 years after defeating Fabricio Werdum at UFC 198 a couple of weeks ago. Miocic will be defending his title in the UFC's first event in Cleveland against Alistair Overeem at UFC 203 on Sept. 10.
The 33-year-old MMA fighter was just a replacement for Cain Velasquez but he made the most out of his opportunities. He knocked out Werdum in the first round with a short right hook in front of a hostile Curitiba, Brazil crowd.
Miocic was very emotional when he won the heavyweight championship and dedicated it to the city of Cleveland. He was also instrumental in letting UFC president Dana White know that he wants to defend his newly won belt in front of his hometown crowd.
According to FOX Sports, the UFC 203 main event was announced by Miocic himself at the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors Game 5 on May 23. It will be the first-ever UFC event to be held at The Rock and Roll Capital of the World.
The Croatian-American fighter will be going up against Overeem, who has won four straight fights and five out of the last six. The 36-year-old last has been very impressive as of late by getting wins over Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson and former champions, Junior Dos Santos and Andrei Arlovski.
Overeem has recovered from his upset losses to Antonio Silva, Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell. He was scheduled to fight for the heavyweight title but he failed a pre-fight drug test conducted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, MMA Junkie reported.
In his last fight, Overeem defeated Arlovski via technical knockout in the second round at UFC Fight Night Rotterdam. After the win, he immediately called out the UFC to give him a title fight because he deserves it.
Miocic has a record of 15 wins and two losses with 11 wins coming by way of knockout, one by submission and three by decision. On the other hand, Overeem's record stands at 41 wins, 14 losses and one no contest. He has won 18 fights via knockout, 19 via submission and only four decisions.
Check out the video below for the full fight between Miocic and Werdum at UFC 198.