Stipe Miocic. AP
RIO DE JANEIRO — Stipe Miocic of the United States beat Brazil’s Fabricio Werdum in front of his shocked home crowd on Saturday to become the new UFC heavyweight champion.
The American fighter used his boxing expertise to knock out the Brazilian in the first round of UFC 198 in Curitiba, Southern Brazil.
Werdum started on his feet, avoiding Miocic’s attempts to bring him to the floor and use his jiu-jitsu. But as he moved toward the American, Miocic landed a sucker punch on the Brazilian’s chin to quickly end the contest.
Miocic, an Ohio firefighter, won six of his past seven fights. Werdum had won five straight fights, highlighted by a win against Mark Hunt for the interim title and then a submission victory against Cain Velasquez in a unification bout.
The bout was scheduled for February until Werdum pulled out with injuries and forced a postponement.
Cleveland’s long-suffering sports fans have not celebrated a major professional championship in team sports since 1964, but they can at least celebrate Miocic’s individual achievement.
Celebrating in front of a sold-out but ultimately disappointed crowd of 45,000 fans at Arena da Baixada, Miocic shouted: “Cleveland, this is for you!”
“I would like to thank the fans. You were against me, but you made all this happen. Fabricio is tough, I had to guess what he was doing, so I was preparing for this,” the new champion said.
Still looking surprised at the octagon, Werdum said: “I have to admit that he was better than me. But I will do all I can to come back and be champion again,” said the 38-year old Brazilian.