When Stipe Miocic flattened Fabricio Werdum at UFC 198 little more than one week ago to win the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight title, he prolonged a "curse" that is 21 years in the making. Indeed, no UFC Heavyweight champion has ever defended his belt more than twice.
Ever ... as in never.
Having won nine of his last 10 matches, including an historic win over the legendary Fedor Emelianenko under the Strikeforce banner back in June 2010, many felt that Werdum had the momentum and skills to remain at the top. But, like Cain Velasquez, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir before him, Werdum's reign was washed away in less than three minutes.