Welcome to the show, CM Punk.
The polarizing and controversial former WWE superstar finally will make his MMA debut Saturday night at UFC 203 against Mickey Gall. And fight fans will be happy to know that there are plenty of other big bouts for them to enjoy, too.
Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic will headline UFC 203 in front of his hometown fans in Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena, where he’ll defend his belt against Alistair Overeem. And in the co-main event, former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum will try to get back in the win column when he faces Travis Browne.
Be sure to check back here for a live blog of Miocic-Overeem, Werdum-Browne and Punk-Gall with round-by-round analysis. You also can check out live results for every fight below and view a live stream of the event here.
Stipe Miocic vs. Alistair Overeem Live Round-By-Round Commentary
Pre-Fight: The champ and challenger have arrived. It’s time for the main event.
Round 1: Overeem tagged Miocic and almost got him locked in a guillotine, but Miocic escaped just in time.
Overeem kept moving around, but Miocic connected on multiple big punches. Overeem responded with a nice sequence of his own, though. Miocic got Overeem down with just about a minute left, and Miocic eventually knocked him out.
What an incredible round!
Result: Miocic still is the UFC heavyweight champion after knocking Overeem out at the 4:27 mark.
Fabricio Werdum vs. Travis Browne Live Round-By-Round Commentary
Round 1: Talk about a wild round.
Werdum started the fight with a flying sidekick, and the bout momentarily stopped later on when Browne had his finger checked out.
Round 2: Werdum decided to sit down and take a break about a minute into the round, much to the displeasure of the Cleveland fans. Werdum continued to build up a huge advantage in strikes landed, 88-15.
Round 3: Browne probably needed to knock Werdum out after his rough first two rounds, but that didn’t happen. Both fighters played it safe for most of the five minutes. Sensing he needed to do something, Browne did pick it up a bit in the final 1:30, as he landed a few big leg kicks to the face and some punches, but that probably wasn’t enough. The fans let these two hear it, too.
Result: That wasn’t a very exciting fight, but at least the two fighters and their camps then went at it in the octagon afterward. Werdum won by unanimous decision, 29-28, 29-27, 30-27.
CM Punk vs. Mickey Gall Live Round-By-Round Commentary
Pre-Fight: It’s finally time for the fight we’ve all been waiting for, and both fighters didn’t disappoint with their entrance music.
Round 1: CM Punk’s debut didn’t last long. Gall immediately took Punk down, and he delivered blow after blow to the back of Punk’s head until he finally submitted.
Result: Gall beat Punk by submission (rear-naked choke) at the 2:14 mark in the first round.
UFC 203 Main Card Fights (10 p.m. ET)
Stipe Miocic def. Alistair Overeem, knockout (Round 1, 4:27)
Fabricio Werdum def. Travis Browne, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 30-27)
Mickey Gall def. CM Punk, submission (Round 1, 2:14)
Jimmie Rivera def. Urijah Faber, unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Jessica Andrade def. Joanne Calderwood, submission (Round 1, 4:38)
FOX Sports 1 Prelims (8 p.m. ET)
Bethe Correia def. Jessica Eye, split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Brad Tavares def. Caio Magalhaes, split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Nik Lentz def. Michael McBride, TKO (Round 2, 4:17)
Drew Dober def. Jason Gonzalez, TKO (Round 1, 1:45)
UFC Fight Pass Prelims (7:30 p.m. ET)
Yancy Medeiros def. Sean Spencer, submission (Round 2, 0:49)
Click to watch UFC 203 online >>
Thumbnail screen shot via Twitter/@UFC
