In the UFC's first ever visit to Cleveland, Ohio, heavyweight hometown champion Stipe Miocic defends his title for the first time against former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem. Miocic claimed the title four months ago when he knocked out Fabricio Werdum halfway through the first round. Challenger Overeem, 56 fights into his professional MMA career, has wins over Werdum, Frank Mir, Andrei Arlovski, Brock Lesnar, Junior dos Santos and Vitor Belfort—all former UFC champions.
This card also features CM Punk's long-awaited UFC and MMA debut, against the largely unknown Mickey Gall. Gall called out Punk after his first professional MMA fight while UFC president Dana White was in the audience, filming for his scouting show Lookin' for a Fight. That's how Gall came to fight his second pro fight in the UFC. After knocking Mike Jackson down and submitting him with a rear naked choke at 45 seconds into the first round, Gall secured his money fight with Punk.
Your regular crew is here for picks: Craig Amos, Scott Harris, Nathan McCarter, Steven Rondina and me!
The main card is:
- Stipe Miocic vs. Alistair Overeem
- Fabricio Werdum vs. Travis Browne
- CM Punk (Phil Brooks) vs. Mickey Gall
- Urijah Faber vs. Jimmie Rivera
- Jessica Andrade vs. Joanne Calderwood.
Let's get to it so you can start betting.
