CLEVELAND — UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic is a die-hard fan of the Cleveland Browns, Indians and Cavaliers, and also, he happens to be a proud supporter of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
ESPN “College Gameday” aired live from outside, and later, inside of Ohio Stadium in Columbus Saturday morning, and Miocic joined former NFL punter Pat McAfee for a segment called “You had one job,” which looks at the biggest blunders and moments of the previous week in football.
Following the segment, Miocic joined McAfee in doing an “O-H” cheer, which drew an impassioned “I-O” response from the Buckeyes faithful, and then, did a trust fall from the stage and crowd-surfed through the fans.
Miocic was in Columbus to take in a top-10 matchup between the undefeated Buckeyes (10-0), the No. 2 team in the country, and the Penn State Nittany Lions (9-1), the nation’s No. 8 team, with the winner taking sole possession of first place in the Big 10 East Division and an inside track to Indianapolis for the Big 10 Championship Game on December 7.
Appearing on “College Gameday” is the latest show of support from Miocic to the Buckeyes.
After his first successful defense of the heavyweight championship with a knockout victory over Alistair Overeem in the main event of UFC 203 at then-Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland in September of 2016, Miocic talked about Ohio State’s game from earlier in the day.
The Buckeyes had a slow start to their game against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at Ohio Stadium, and as Miocic was leaving his press conference, a reporter asked him about the game. After laughing for a moment, Miocic expressed how difficult it was to watch the first quarter.
Following the slow start offensively, the Buckeyes found their sea-legs, so to speak, by scoring 17, 14 and 14 points respectively in the final three quarters of play to earn a 48-3 win over Tulsa.
Like the Buckeyes, Miocic is back at the top of his game, as he regained the UFC heavyweight championship with his win over Daniel Cormier in the main event of UFC 241 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on August 17.
After struggling to find his range in the first three rounds, Miocic picked his spots during the fourth frame and was sticking and moving, engaging with punches, including several left hooks to Cormier’s ribs, and getting out of the pocket before the defending champion could respond.
Then, after a lead hook to the body, Miocic landed a straight right hand to Cormier’s chin. That wobbled Cormier and Miocic moved in for the finish. Miocic landed three right hands before connecting on three short lefts while putting Cormier against the cage.
As Cormier slumped to the canvas, Miocic alternated right and left-handed punches and forced the referee’s stoppage with 52 seconds remaining in the fourth round.
It was the first time in Cormier’s career that he was knocked out in a heavyweight fight, and Miocic’s comeback victory earned him a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus.
The record-holder for the most consecutive successful defenses of the UFC heavyweight championship, Miocic improved to 19-3-0 in his professional career with the victory over Cormier, including a 13-3 mark since joining the UFC in 2011.