Stipe Miocic is on the cusp of the UFC heavyweight championship

The moment has finally arrived for Stipe Miocic. We’ve spoken to him and about him on these pages for years now, since at least 2012. It’s hard to believe it’s been four years and ten UFC fights, but it has—and what a collection of ten fights it’s been. Miocic gets a title shot in his eleventh UFC fight this Saturday May 14 as he battles Fabricio Werdum for the heavyweight championship of the world in Curitaba Brazil in a soccer stadium. UFC 198 takes place Saturday May 14 at 10 p.m. and is available on pay-per-view.¹

In Stipe Miocic’s 10 UFC fights he owns an 8-2 record. He’s only lost once in his last six fights and that was a judge’s decision loss to one of the top contenders and a former champion in his own right, Junior dos Santos. I still think Stipe won that damn fight, and I’m admittedly biased, but the real lesson is that when you leave it in the hands of the judges you have to live with the results. So after the loss to Junior dos Santos, Miocic has racked up championship contenders and knocked them down. He beat Mark Hunt via TKO in the fifth round in May 2015. He stunned Andrei Arlovski in less than a minute of the first round in January 2016.

That’s when the otherwise reserved, shy Clevelander stopped allowing himself to be passed over for a title shot. He screamed it at Dana White and then did it again in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan in the octagon.

Stipe won that fight and eventually won his shot at the title. There were ups and downs and injuries to another contender before it was finally officially granted, but it’s here and it’s happening and our buddy Jamie Meklemburg, who has been on our podcast talking about it, is traveling to Brazil to see it go down live.

In case you missed that conversation here it is and I’m sure we’ll get a post-fight word with Jamie as well.

So about that soccer stadium… If you want to know what a big deal this fight is, consider that the 45,000-seat arena saw 32,000 ticket purchases in the first hour and a half, according to a report from March 31. On the UFC’s official website the event is listed as “SOLD OUT.” The arena record is just over 45,000 fans, so it might be in reach for UFC 198: Werdum vs. Miocic. I have no idea how many fans will be in attendance on Saturday, but suffice to say it’s one of the larger venues in which the UFC has ever held fights. The UFC has done more than 55,000 in Canada and Australia on previous occasions, but compared to the typical basketball-arena-sized venues that hold fewer than 20,000 fans, this is a biggie.

Miocic is 33-years-old. He’s paid his dues inside the octagon. He’s been a good soldier. He’s won his fights. He’s improved steadily in his time with the UFC, developing from a wrestler and a boxer into a well-rounded MMA fighter who can impose his will and keep the opposition from imposing theirs. Miocic is considered a fighter who stands up and strikes, and the key to being able to pull that off is defending the takedown. He is currently 70 percent in terms of defending the takedown.

Fabricio Werdum only needs to succeed with one takedown to win a fight, however. Werdum has numerous submission victories on his fight history, including a choke submission he executed on top contender and former champ Cain Velasquez in June, 2015. This, combined with the fact that the fights are taking place in home territory for Werdum might explain why he’s a -155 favorite to win on Saturday night. Stipe, conversely, is +135.

Odds aside, UFC is a sport where anything can happen. An impossibly tough champ like Ronda Rousey can lose to Holly Holm who can then lose her next title fight to Miesha Tate., and I don’t know anyone who thinks of Fabricio Werdum in the same favorite context as they did Ronda Rousey. That’s not to say he should be the underdog against Stipe Miocic, it’s simply to say that this is completely possible. It will be a mild surprise to some, but in terms of a Cleveland guy having a chance to raise the belt, this is worth believing in. This is Cleveland, where belief is in short supply, but desire to believe is brimming over the edge. Don’t waste this chance to watch Stipe Miocic on Saturday night. It’s been a special run for him and his fans, and this is his moment to grab the ultimate prize in the mixed martial arts world.

1. I’m really not here to promote the event except as a fan of Stipe Miocic’s who wants to rally as many people as possible to watch our own guy on the ultimate stage in mixed martial arts. [↩]