Stipe Miocic (pictured) paid his dues in finally scoring a UFC heavyweight title tilt in May, and the fireman took full advantage of his opportunity by knocking out Fabricio Werdum at UFC 198 to capture the elusive crown.
Miocic puts his hardware on the line for the first time when he battles veteran Alistair Overeem at UFC 203 on Saturday. Miocic will enjoy home-cage advantage, as the scrap goes down in his backyard at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Overeem’s controversial journey to a UFC title fight has been a long time coming, with most of the prolonged process due to his own doing – running from a random drug test, which he subsequently failed for elevated levels of testosterone and was handed a nine-month suspension.