Fabricio Werdum entered the Octagon smiling for his UFC 198 main event Saturday night at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil, but it was Stipe Miocic who had the last laugh, as he knocked Werdum out in the first round to win the UFC heavyweight championship.
“Cleveland, we got a champion,” the Ohio native said.
Miocic got off to a fast start and he never took his foot off the gas, mixing his boxing stylings with hard kicks to the leg. On the other side, Werdum was having trouble getting into a rhythm, forcing him to get a little reckless with his offense. That proved to be a fight-ending mistake for the Porto Alegre native as a wild rush left him wide open for the flush right hand that sent Werdum down and out, with referee Dan Miragliotta officially halting the bout at the 2:47 mark.
