MANILA, Philippines – Stipe Miocic gets his first assignment as the newly-crowned kingpin of the heavyweight division as he is set to defend his gold-plated strap against No. 3-ranked contender Alistair Overeem in the main event of UFC 203 on September 10.
The 5-round championship clash between Miocic and Overeem was announced on Thursday, May 26, with the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio serving as the venue.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cleveland hosts <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC203?src=hash">#UFC203</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TheQArena">@TheQArena</a> as <a href="https://twitter.com/stipemiocicufc">@StipeMiocicUFC</a> takes on <a href="https://twitter.com/Alistairovereem">@AlistairOvereem</a>! <a href="https://t.co/KAM8nWyEMA">https://t.co/KAM8nWyEMA</a> <a href="https://t.co/NE4aALypuV">pic.twitter.com/NE4aALypuV</a></p>— #UFCVegas (@ufc) <a href="https://twitter.com/ufc/status/735636718406111233">May 26, 2016</a></blockquote>
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The pay-per-view fight card marks UFC’s maiden trip to Cleveland, and the first time the organization has visited Ohio since March 2009 when it hosted UFC 96 in Columbus.
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<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Heavyweight Champ <a href="https://twitter.com/stipemiocicufc">@StipeMiocicUFC</a> just announced some exciting news at The Q:<a href="https://twitter.com/ufc">@UFC</a> is coming to <a href="https://twitter.com/TheQArena">@TheQArena</a> on 9/10!<a href="https://t.co/ykaJWgrbM3">https://t.co/ykaJWgrbM3</a></p>— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) <a href="https://twitter.com/cavs/status/735638867978506240">May 26, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Miocic (15-2) captured the world heavyweight title by knocking Fabricio Werdum with one punch in the first round at this month’s UFC 198.
The 33-year-old American has won 6 of his last 7 Octagon outings, picking up impressive victories over Roy Nelson, Gabriel Gonzaga, Fabio Maldonado, Mark Hunt, Andrei Arlovski and recently Werdum.
In the other corner, Overeem (41-14) is riding high on a 4-fight winning streak and has re-established himself as one of the sport’s top heavyweights by taking out Arlovski in the second round last May 8.
No additional contests for the card were revealed, but the UFC is expected to announce more bouts in the coming weeks. – Rappler.com