Alistair Overeem can’t quite believe how easy it was for Stipe Miocic to KO Fabricio Werdum at UFC 198.
Headed into UFC 198, Alistair Overeem expected Fabricio Werdum to craftily out-smart Stipe Miocic to retain the heavyweight title. It came as a surprise, then, when the part-time firefighter blasted Werdum with a right hook to relieve the Brazilian of his championship duty.
Fighting in front of 45,000 native supporters at Arenda da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil, ‘The Reem’ expected the former champ to cruise to victory. But some thing seemed off. Nerves, perhaps. Overexcitement. Mounting pressure to make history in his home country.
What ever the cause, Werdum entered the Octagon against Miocic looking sloppy – urgency bordering on desperation. The 38-year-old veteran was caught with a crisp counter right hand as he desperately waded in looking for the knock out. When Miocic landed the second counter, Werdum crumpled to the canvas in an instant, leaving referee Dan Miragliotta to wave the fight off and signal the KO.
“When I saw the fight I was actually flabbergasted how easily [Miocic] won,” Overeem told Brian Stann on his podcast, per Jed Meshew of MMA Fighting. I would never have expected him to knock Fabricio out in the two-minute mark, two and a half minutes. Fairly easy. Not that many significant strikes landed before. Basically it was a right hook and then another right and that was the end of that.
“I definitely would have given Fabricio Werdum the home-field advantage. I mean, this was a soccer stadium filled with 45,000 Brazilians, it’s hostile territory for any outsider to fight there. That definitely does give the home fighter an advantage I think but Stipe just went in there and blasted his way to victory in two and a half minutes so congratulations to Stipe. An unexpected win in my book.”
Overeem, who is 1-1 with Werdum, is expected to challenge Miocic for the title. The Dutchman has saw a late career resurgence, stringing together four consecutive wins and knocking out the likes of Junior dos Santos and Andrei Arlovski. Overeem holds world titles in K-1 and Strikeforce, and will look to add another feather to his cap by becoming the UFC champion in the near-future.