Stipe Miocic registered a brutal one-punch knockout of Fabricio Werdum in the main event of UFC 198 to claim the heavyweight championship in front of a hostile crowd at the Arena da Baizada in Curitiba, Brazil on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
The crowd was heavily pro-Werdum but Miocic quickly quieted them, landing a right hand on an on-rushing Werdum that sent the Brazilian to the canvas.
The official time of stoppage was at the 2:47 mark of the very first round.
"Cleveland, we got a champion, baby," Miocic, a native of Ohio, announced.
Miocic earned his title shot by knocking out Andrei Arlovski at UFC 195 in January, and made the most out of it as he proved to be the more patient fighter. Werdum, in contrast, was more aggressive than he usually was and paid for it dearly.
Werdum was on the attack when Miocic unloaded his right hand, catching the Brazilian flush and knocking him out cold.
"Honestly, he's tough, he kept me guessing," said Miocic, who hiked his record to 15-2. "But I caught him with the right hand, and he went down, thank God."
Miocic has now won three straight fights and six of his last seven.
"Tonight, he was better than I was," Werdum said via a translator. "But I'm gonna come back here, and I'm gonna be the champion again."
Werdum's six fight winning streak dating back to 2012 came to an end. The Brazilian won the heavyweight belt back in June 2015, when he submitted Cain Velasquez at UFC 188.
Cyborg wins UFC debut
In the undercard, Cris "Cyborg" Justino made a successful UFC debut by crushing Leslie Smith in just 81 seconds.
The bout, held at a catchweight of 140 pounds, ended quickly as Justino overwhelmed Smith with her striking ability.
The referee eventually stopped the fight at the 1:21 mark after "Cyborg" landed several shots in succession that Smith could not answer.
In the co-main event, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza dominated Vitor Belfort, stopping the "Phenom" at the 4:38 mark of the opening round.
Souza took Belfort down and used brutal ground and pound to bloody his opponent. The referee eventually stopped the fight after Belfort could not defend himself while Souza unloaded bombs from top position.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua claimed a split decision over Corey Anderson, 29-28, 29-28, and 28-29.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
