On a night full of interesting moments, Stipe Miocic knocking out Alistair Overeem in the main event of UFC 203 with the Cleveland crowd erupting in jubilation has got to be one of the best moments of the night.
In his first defense as UFC Heavyweight champion, Miocic overcame early trouble when Overeem clocked him square in the face and was looking to lock in a guillotine choke to win the fight. When later speaking of that guillotine choke attempt, Overeem raised some eyebrows in his post-fight interview when he said that he felt Miocic tap and the referee did not see the tap. The replay did not show that he tapped.
"I believe when I punched him and he went down," Overeem said. "I got him in a guillotine choke. He tapped, the ref didn't see it. Th ref didn't jump in. In my opinion, he tapped. I think I'm the better fighter, but not tonight. He clearly tapped."
Nonetheless, Miocic's hometown of Cleveland responded negatively to Overeem's comments. In fact, they booed Overeem throughout the entire fight, which was to be expected.
"I train that shit every day," Miocic said. "I'm still the heavyweight champion of the world."
Now that Miocic has won the biggest prize in MMA and successfully defended it, who knows his next opponent is. A rematch against Fabricio Werdum is not unlikely since he won his fight against Travis Browne earlier in the card.
Miocic's latest win is just the next one in a series of championship wins in Cleveland. From WWE's The Miz winning the Intercontinental Championship the night after WrestleMania this year, to the Cleveland Cavaliers winning the NBA Championship this summer, to Miocic defending his UFC title in the city of Cleveland itself. TNA's Ethan Carter III also held the TNA Championship earlier this year.
