The UFC heavyweight title stays in Cleveland. And what a fight it was.
Stipe Miocic showed an iron chin throughout the first round as Alistair Overeem landed a straight right and knocked Miocic to the ground, followed by a guillotine attempt.
But there was no way Miocic was going to lose this fight in front of his hometown of Cleveland.
Miocic quickly recovered and didn't let Overeem out of his sight, following him around the Octagon as Overeem tried to stay away from Miocic's haymakers. It didn't take long for Miocic to find his range and start landing bombs on Overeem, eventually taking him to the ground and finishing him with punches.
Cleveland can celebrate again!
Stipe Miocic wins in front of his home crowd, retaining his Heavyweight title. pic.twitter.com/8woZRp4Du1
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 11, 2016
The co-main event of the evening featured Fabricio Werdum and Travis Browne, both contenders in the heavyweight division. Werdum won the fight via unanimous decision, but it really wasn't much of a fight.
Former champ @FabricioWerdum will take the UD win. Browne's punch output was just way too low tonight. #UFC203
— Karyn Bryant (@KarynBryant) September 11, 2016
Browne injured his right hand in the first round and was only able to strike Werdum with his left hand for the remainder of the fight. Werdum knocked down Browne in the second round, but that was the highlight of the fight.
Boos echoed around the arena due to the inactivity of the fight, especially in the third and final round when Browne sat back for the majority of the round when he needed the finish as he was losing on the scorecards.
Results
- Yancy Medeiros defeated Sean Spencer by submission (rear-naked choke), 0:49 of Round 2
- Drew Dober defeated Jason Gonzalez by KO (punches), 1:45 of Round 1
- Nik Lentz defeated Michael McBride by TKO (strikes), 4:17 of Round 2
- Brad Tavares defeated Caio Magalhaes by split decision
- Bethe Correia defeated Jessica Eye via split decision
- Jessica Andrade defeated Joanne Calderwood via submission (guillotine choke), 4:38 of Round 1
- Jimmie Rivera defeated Urijah Faber via unanimous decision
- Mickey Gall defeated CM Punk via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:17 of Round 1
- Fabricio Werdum defeated Travis Browne via unanimous decision
- Stipe Miocic defeated Alistair Overeem via KO, 4:27 of Round 1
Highlights and Analysis
The Pitbull is back
It was an unpopular split-decision win for Bethe Correia as the Cleveland crowd's boos echoed around The Q, but for the winner, the victory was not a surprise at all.
Correia: I thought I won. I landed the significant shots.
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) September 11, 2016
Eye began the fight with a stiff jab that opened up Correia's nose, and she looked like the sharper fighter as the first round concluded. Eye, who was fighting in front of her come crowd Saturday, had the audience behind her back, and she came out strong to prove her rank in the bantamweight division.
However, as the second round progressed, Correia became the aggressor and began cutting off the ring, forcing Eye to backpedal toward the cage.
Beautiful slip & counter from @JessicaEvilEye! #UFC203 https://t.co/G8oKY62zB5
— #UFC203 (@ufc) September 11, 2016
It was a close fight that could have gone either way, but Correia did deliver the more powerful shots in third round, and the judges rewarded her for her aggressiveness.
Sporting a record of 10-2 and now loaded with confidence after her win over Eye, it didn't take Correia long to start calling out top-five fighters en route to another title shot.
"It was no problem for me fighting (in Cleveland). I want @MieshaTate." @BetheCorreia #UFC203 pic.twitter.com/wxDnnFHKWJ
— #UFC203 (@ufc) September 11, 2016
Rivera shines, dominates Faber
Didn't see that one coming, did you?
Jimmie Rivera took control of the fight from the opening seconds and never let go of that momentum. An eye poke toward the end of the night limited his vision, but Rivera was still able to take out Faber's legs and keep him at bay.
Rivera apologizes to the fans for not giving them what they wanted in the third round, but he couldn’t see.
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) September 11, 2016
Faber looked active but never really showed an interest in stepping into Rivera to try to get a finish when he went down on the scorecards. The loss marks Faber's second straight loss stemming from his decision loss to Dominick Cruz.
Jimmie River def. Urijah Faber via UD (30-27 x 3). First time in Faber's career he's lost two in a row.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) September 11, 2016
Gall shows CM Punk what the UFC is really about
Give credit where credit is due to CM Punk. It takes a lot of courage to enter the Octagon, regardless of skill level or experience.
He went for it all and came up short. (Warning: NSFW language in the following video.)
"You go BIG or you go home" - @CMPunk #UFC203 https://t.co/H4LEnkXwmI
— #UFC203 (@ufc) September 11, 2016
But as many expected, including MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani, Gall had no problem dismantling Punk from the get go. Punk shot out his corner like a cannon but was dropped to the ground almost immediately by Gall, who began to pick apart Punk's full guard.
Punk showed decent submission defense as he was able to slip out of a rear-naked choke attempt, but seconds later, Gall's forearm was underneath Punk's chin again, forcing the tap.
