In his first match since becoming UFC heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic successfully defended his title with a first-round technical knockout victory over Alistair Overeem at UFC 203 in Cleveland on Saturday.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole, the bout was officially stopped four minutes, 27 seconds into the opening frame.
Fighting in front of his home crowd in Cleveland, Miocic continued his ascent in the UFC’s overall rankings. The 34-year-old entered the match as the promotion’s No. 8 pound-for-pound fighter, per UFC.com.
Miocic took a vicious short left from Overeem at the start of the round, as UFC documented on Twitter, but he worked back off the mat after his opponent went for a guillotine:
ESPN.com’s Myron Medcalf noted Overeem may have been too aggressive early with his decision to employ the potentially decisive tactic:
Once he withstood Overeem’s initial flurry, Miocic established himself as the fight’s most dominant force as he landed several powerful blows.
The Ohio native sent Overeem tumbling to the canvas with under a minute remaining in the first round, and he started to unload a slew of punches once he was in a dominant striking position.
At that point, all Miocic had to do was swing away before the referee was forced to call the fight in his favor.
Since losing to Junior Dos Santos in December 2014, Miocic has won each of his last four fights. He defeated Andrei Arlovski to become the No. 1 contender with a TKO less than one minute into the opening round.
Miocic took that momentum into his title fight with Fabricio Werdum and won the belt with a knockout punch less than three minutes into the first round.
Coming into the bout, Overeem did his best to play mind games with Miocic by suggesting his head wasn’t focused on the match, per MMAjunkie:
It’s all about whether he can stay focused. If you’re doing the appearances and the pool parties – because yes, we have seen Stipe at several of them. Not one, but several.
He’s enjoying the life, and that’s not a bad thing. But know somebody’s coming and somebody’s going to take that belt, and he’s not going to enjoy life.
It seemed a foolish statement to make because Miocic has been with the UFC since 2011 and this is the first time he’s put himself in position to be mentioned with some of the best fighters in the sport of mixed martial arts.
The heavyweight division is notorious for producing short-reigning champions. Since the title’s inception in 1997, Randy Couture, Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez are tied with the record for most successful defenses (two).
This was Miocic’s first match as champion, and he made it count against one of the heavyweight division’s most lethal strikers and submission artists.
The UFC has needed to find a face for the heavyweight division since Lesnar left in 2011 and Velasquez began having health issues.
Miocic is still establishing himself as a drawing card with the championship, but wins over Arlovski, Werdum and now Overeem have left no doubt he is the best big man in the UFC.
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