Stipe Miocic Slated To Defend His Recently-Earned Title Against Alistair Overeem At UFC 203!

The reigning UFC World Heavyweight Champion, Stipe Miocic is all set to defend his recently-earned title against Alistair Overeem on September 10, at UFC 203 - the first UFC event at Miocic's hometown, Cleveland.

On Wednesday, May 25, UFC officials publicized the fight and also unveiled a video of Miocic announcing the upcoming clash. The announcement was made during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena, the same venue where UFC 203 is slated to take place.

Miocic defeated former champion Fabricio Werdum by delivering a right hand to the jaw at UFC 198 that took place in Brazil, this month.

Werdum was taking off after Miocic around the outer rim of The Octagon, leaving his chin unprotected. Although Miocic was moving away from chase, he somehow managed to land a powerful right hand that knocked down the champion, WKYC reported.

By the time referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in to end the fight, Miocic had already landed three powerful shots to the downed champion. The fight ended at 2:14 of the first round itself.

UFC divulged that Miocic was able to land 20 of 31 strikes, all considered as significant blows, while Werdum on the other hand landed 15 of his 33 strikes on the challenger.

Miocic landed an impressive 68 percent of his punches to Werdum's head, while 29 percent of his strikes were to the former champ's legs. While Werdum could only manage to land all of his strikes from distance, Miocic, on the other hand landed 88 percent from distance and three percent in the clinch.

Miocic emerged victorious by far, and won the title at UFC 198 by knocking out Brazilian Fabricio Werdum in front of 1000s of Brazilian. However things may be a bit in his favor this time as the Cleveland native, Miocic will defend his title in Cleveland, ESPN reported.

Overeem has been on a roll (41-14), and would like to carry his form in the five-round bout when he lock horns with the reigning champ, Miocic. This may not be a good news for Miocic as Fresh from his second-round knockout over Andrei Arlovski, it will not be easy to beat Overeem.

The PPV (pay-per-view) event is UFC's first-ever in Cleveland.