Werdum with a nasty right
(Cleveland, OH., September 12, 2016) – As per usual, UFC main cards are usually stacked with exciting fights and title implications. On Saturday at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, that is exactly what happened. With the heavyweight championship on the line, a famous WWE star making his first-ever MMA appearance and former champions who needed wins to get back to champion form, UFC 203’s main card lived up to the hype.
The first fight on the main card was a woman’s fight between Jessica Andrade and Joanne Calderwood in a strawweight battle. If you blinked, you missed a lot of action as the card got off to a blazing start. Andrade wasted no time as she slammed Calderwood to the mat and started to land big shots. With Andrade racking up top position for several minutes, she was causing a lot of damage. With a minute to go, Calderwood tried to get up but got caught in a guillotine and Andrade got the tap at the 4:38 mark of round 1. Truly a dominant performance from Andrade that should easily help her move up the rankings of a tough strawweight division.
Next up was Jimmie Rivera vs. Urijah Faber. Rivera, who was riding an 18-fight winning streak, was set take on a very formidable opponent in Faber, who has been a top contender in the bantamweight class for years. However, it was Rivera who put on a clinic landed jabs and punishing leg kicks. After the first two rounds, it was clear Faber needed a finish as he was down 20-18. That didn’t happen as it was more of the same as Rivera went back to the well with leg kicks and ultimately cracked him with a right and left combination towards the end of the round. An easy score sheet for the judges who ruled a victory for Rivera by unanimous decision, (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
It was Phil Brooks’ turn to make his first-ever MMA appearance against prospect Mickey Gall. After years of hype, it was time for “CM Punk” to see if he was ready for the sport of mixed martial arts. After a great run in the WWE, where he was a superstar, CM Punk decided that MMA was a sport he could relish in as well. It took less than three minutes to realize that CM Punk might need some more time to work on his craft. Gall immediately went in for the takedown as the bell went off and got it. Gall moved into side position as Punk was flattened out. Punk, desperately trying to hold off a choke from Gall had no chance with the position he was in as Gall got Punk to tap (rear-naked-choke) at the 2:14 mark of round 1. It might be a while until we see Punk again after that performance, but a lot of respect was earned for trying at such a high level.
The co-main event was an interesting fight as former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum took on Travis Browne. Browne, who was filling in for Ben Rothwell on short notice because of an injury, had already faced Werdum and lost in a five-round blood bath. It was once again a blood bath, especially in round one where Werdum came right out from the opening bell with a flying side kick to the face. After Browne survived that, he asked for timeout because he dislocated his finger. While the ref granted the timeout, Werdum was protesting that the fight should be called because of the injury and that is exactly what should have happened. However, the ref (Gary Copeland) allowed the fight to continue after they popped the bone back in and it was all Werdum from that point on. Werdum with 45 seconds to go in the round landed some big punches and took Browne’s back and looked for the choke, but Browne once again survived. In rounds two and three, it looked as though both fighters gassed out as there wasn’t much action. Werdum seemed to take round two with constant leg kicks and Browne squeezed out round three, but it was Werdum who got the win after it went to the judges winning by unanimous decision. While the fight should have been called in round one, Werdum got the victory he needed, and deserved, to put himself back in title contention.
The main event was on tap next and was the biggest fight on the card for many reasons. Stipe Miocic, in his home town of Cleveland, was trying to do something that not many heavyweight champions have done lately, defend his title. It would be a very hard task to do as he took on decorated veteran Alistair Overeem who finally earned a title shot after five years in the UFC.
It didn’t take long for unbelievable action as Overeem landed a kick and a straight left that hurt Miocic right away. Overeem went for the guillotine but Miocic escaped. It wasn’t too long after that Miocic landed a big uppercut that hurt Overeem. Overeem covered up and started to circle away. After Overeem landed a left that stumbled Miocic, Miocic recovered and connected on a side kick that sent Overeem to the ground. Miocic started landing huge shots to the face and Overeem went out cold to give the champ the win, and his defense of his belt, sending the arena into a frenzy.
It was an action packed night of fights and it ended with a bang. UFC 203 gave fans what they wanted as there was plenty of action, interesting storylines and a great ending. Just another great night in mixed martial arts.
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