Stipe Miocic (pictured) was promised the winner of the February 6 title tilt between heavyweight champion Fabrico Werdum and Cain Velasquez after knocking out Andrei Arlovski in just 54 seconds at UFC 195.
Understanding Velasquez’s intimate relationship with the injury bug, Miocic was right back in the gym the next week just in case Velasquez got hurt again. Miocic’s foresight paid off Sunday when Velasquez pulled out of UFC 196 with a lower back injury.
And just like that, Miocic scored the championship affair he has long been clamoring for – albeit on 13 days’ notice, but he was down.