Saturday night at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, hometown superstar Stipe Miocic will look to defend his UFC heavyweight title against arguably the most decorated fighter in the UFC, Alistair Overeem.
Ahead of the fight, the MMA community is rather torn on who they think will fin the fight. While some believe that Overeem’s elite level striking will result in him leaving ‘The Land’ with the heavyweight strap, others believe that Miocic will continue his 3-fight win streak and retain his heavyweight strap.
Prior to the fight, former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos, who has fought both men, gave his prediction on the fight during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour:
“I think Miocic is in a great moment right now and he’s a great athlete, and Overeem too, he’s a good guy and a great athlete, but right now, I think the moment is for Miocic. So, I think [Miocic is] going to win this fight by knockout second round.”
Dos Santos is the last man to defeat Miocic. Back in 2014 the pair headlined a ‘UFC Fight Night’ event in Phoenix, Arizona. The fight went the full 5 rounds in a ‘Fight of the Night’ performance that saw Dos Santos awarded the unanimous decision win.
Following his win over Miocic, do Santos was TKOd in his very next fight by Alistair Overeem. Fortunately, the former heavyweight champ bounced back in his last fight as he picked up a unanimous decision win over Ben Rothwell.
So far no word yet on when dos Santos, who sits at #4 on the UFC heavyweight rankings, will return to the Octagon. However, given the fact that he was recently cleared to return to training, you can be sure that he will have his eye on both the co-main event, and the main event of UFC 203.