“I think I got offered Cormier, and I think he turned it down, and then they went down the list. I think Travis Browne (was a possibility), and so forth and so forth. Stipe was already on the card, and Stipe is the one that said yes.”

In a recent interview with mmajunkie, Roy Nelson revealed that his slot on UFC 161 was saved by Stipe Miocic, the only one who would accept a fight with him.