INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- It took Stipe Miocic six years to get a fight in front of his hometown fans and bring the Ultimate Fighting Championship to Cleveland and Quicken Loans Arena for the very first time, but the UFC Heavyweight Champion made it a memorable experience.
Last September, Miocic successfully defended the UFC championship with a knockout win over well-respected contender Alistair Overeem late in the first round of the scheduled five-round main event bout of UFC 211.
“I just didn’t want to let anyone down,” Miocic told WKYC.com on Facebook Live from his home gym, Strong Style MMA in Independence. “It’s my hometown. It was so big here. It was the first time it was here. I just didn’t want to let anyone down.”
Following the win, Miocic told the media that he preferred to fight outside of Cleveland because there would be less pressure on him, but since then, his thoughts have changed, as he aims to fight again in November or December of this year, and would welcome the chance to do so in his hometown.
“That’d be awesome, man,” Miocic said. “I would love it. It was great here. People loved it here, and I think it’d be huge again. We’ll see what the UFC wants. If I was making those decisions, I wouldn’t be fighting right now. I’d be working for UFC. We’ll see what they want, talk to them and take it from there.”
Miocic avenged one of only two losses on his professional record with a knockout of Junior dos Santos at the 2:24 mark of the first round in the main event of UFC 211: Miocic vs. Dos Santos 2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on May 13.
Although dos Santos landed 12 strikes early in the round, including leg kicks that caused instant swelling in Miocic’s left shin, the champion withstood the damage and landed 26 of his 56 strikes (46 percent). All 26 of his strikes were considered significant, according to FightMetric.
Miocic finished off his fifth straight knockout victory by backing up dos Santos against the cage and flooring him with a right hand to the head.
After dos Santos fell to the canvas, Miocic swarmed the former champion and threw more than a dozen left-handed punches through the guard, and when those strikes went unanswered, referee Herb Dean stepped in to call a stop to the bout.
With the win over dos Santos, Miocic tied the UFC record by successfully defending the heavyweight championship for a second consecutive time. He improved to 17-2 in his professional career, and 11-2 in his 13 bouts under the UFC banner.
Including the knockout of dos Santos, Miocic has won five straight bouts. All five of those victories have come by knockout or TKO, and the last four were achieved in the very first round of competition. Additionally, Miocic has gotten four straight Performance or Fight of the Night bonuses.
And regardless of where his next fight takes place, Miocic is ready to represent the city of Cleveland.
“C-L-E till I die,” Miocic said. “You know how I do it, baby. I appreciate everything you guys do, and let’s go Cavs. We got this.”
