UFC champion Miocic keeps title with stunning home knockout
By TOM WITHERS | AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) — Stipe Miocic climbed to the top of the octagon and threw his legs over its sides, straddling the cage like he was riding a horse.
He had defended his title in stunning fashion, and Cleveland’s hometown hero has no plans to give it up.
“I’m going to stay champ for a long time,” he said.
Floored by an early punch, Miocic recovered and knocked out Alistair Overeem at 4:27 of the first round to conclude UFC 203 on Sept. 10 in front of nearly 20,000 delirious 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.
“When I got on top of him, game over,” Miocic said.
When the fight was stopped, Miocic ran and climbed the cage, a move he had planned for months. Soon after, he took the microphone and yelled “O-H” to the crowd, which responded “I-0,” to the 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.
“I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life,” Miocic said.
Overeem almost ruined things for Miocic when he knocked him on his butt and attempted to end the fight. But Miocic wasn’t going to be denied and was offended when he learned that Overeem had thought he tapped out.
“I don’t remember tapping out,” Miocic said. “I remember punching him in the face until he was unconscious.”
