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UFC Betting Online: When Stipe Miocic won the heavyweight championship in May, he boldly declared to his hometown of Cleveland that it finally has its champion. Of course, the embattled sports history hasn't had much to celebrate in terms of titles over the years, so at least having a UFC champion is something to write home about.
You can bet that Miocic is going to have all of the fans on his side in the showcase fight of the night at UFC 203 at Quicken Loans Arena when he takes on Alistair Overeem in his first title defense.
TALE OF THE TAPE
Stipe Miocic
Nickname: The Silencer
Nationality: American
Height: 6-foot-4
Reach: 80 inches
Record: 15-2-0
Knockouts: 11
Submissions: 1
Alistair Overeem
Nickname: The Reem
Nationality: Dutch
Height: 6-foot-4
Reach: 80 inches
Record: 41-14-1
Knockouts: 18
Submissions: 19
Stipe Miocic Recent Form
Miocic really started to show some good form in the Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 when he won Performance of the Night against Fabio Maldonado in a match he won via TKO. Sure, he was beaten in his next match against Junior dos Santos, but it went the distance and was the Fight of the Night. The display wasn't embarrassing at all, and it kept Miocic in the discussion for the top contenders in the heavyweight division.
Winning impressive matches against Mark Hunt and Andrei Arlovski gave Miocic his very first chance to win the heavyweight title. It was a chance which he didn't let go begging.
Fabricio Werdum is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and it was a huge shock to see Miocic capture the title.
Alistair Overeem Recent Form
Overeem is certainly no rookie in the octagon, as this is going to be his 57th career fight. He's in the best form in his career as well, as he's coming off of four straight wins, including victories over dos Santos and Arlovski to make himself a contender for the top spot.
The Dutchman has been in the octagon since 1999, but this is the very first time he's had a chance to win a belt as a member of the UFC. The match against Arlovski was incredibly impressive though, as he won via TKO with a jumping front kick the likes of which you just don't see out of these heavyweights. It earned him Performance of the Night honors at UFC Fight Night in May, and that's why he's going to have his first title fight in September.
Keys to the Fight
Overeem is quite the interesting heavyweight in that he's more of a tactical fighter. He's a kickboxer by nature, and that's not something which most heavyweights are used to fighting against. The more tactical and the less brawling this fight turns out to be, the better off Overeem is going to be.
Miocic really has to get the crowd on his side and keep this match at a really high pace. He has to avoid more or less "over fighting" here, though. Getting caught up in the emotions of fighting at home and defending his belt at home is the same problem Verdum got into in his title fight with Miocic, and we all know how that played out.
With 11 knockouts in 17 matches, Miocic knows that his power is going to be the key to victory. He has to stay off of the mat, and if he stays on his feet, he'll end up paying off bettors in this field as a somewhat short favorite.
There's never been a night of UFC quite like this one in Cleveland. Quicken Loans Arena will surely be on fire for Stipe Miocic has he defends his heavyweight championship belt against Alistair Overeem on Saturday, September 10, 2016.
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