UFC 198 Recap: Miocic Dethrones Werdum in Stunning Fashion

UFC 198: Werdum vs. Miocic took place on May 14, 2016, at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil. Stipe Miocic knocked out Fabricio Werdum in the first round to win the UFC heavyweight championship in front of more than 40,000 fans. Ronaldo “Jacaré” Souza stopped Vitor Belfort, Cris Cyborg won her UFC debut, and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua edged Corey Anderson.

Event video: UFC 198.

Miocic catches Werdum charging forward

Werdum pressed aggressively in the opening round, but Miocic remained composed while moving backward. When the champion rushed forward with punches, Miocic planted and landed a counter right hand that knocked Werdum out at 2:47.

The victory made Miocic UFC heavyweight champion and brought a major professional sports championship back to his home city of Cleveland.

Jacaré overwhelms Belfort; Cyborg debuts with a finish

Ronaldo Souza took Vitor Belfort down, advanced to dominant position, and stopped him with punches at 4:38 of round one. Cris Cyborg made her UFC debut in a 140-pound catchweight bout and stopped Leslie Smith with punches at 1:21 of the opening round.

Shogun edges Anderson; Barberena upsets Alves

Mauricio Rua defeated Corey Anderson by split decision after three rounds. Bryan Barberena handed Warlley Alves his first professional loss by unanimous decision. Demian Maia submitted Matt Brown late in round three, and Thiago Santos knocked out Nate Marquardt in the first.

Complete UFC 198 results

• Stipe Miocic def. Fabricio Werdum — KO (punch); round 1, 2:47. Miocic won the UFC heavyweight championship.
• Ronaldo Souza def. Vitor Belfort — TKO (punches); round 1, 4:38.
• Cris Cyborg def. Leslie Smith — TKO (punches); round 1, 1:21. Catchweight: 140 pounds.
• Mauricio Rua def. Corey Anderson — split decision; round 3, 5:00.
• Bryan Barberena def. Warlley Alves — unanimous decision; round 3, 5:00.
• Demian Maia def. Matt Brown — submission (rear-naked choke); round 3, 4:31.
• Thiago Santos def. Nate Marquardt — KO (punch); round 1, 3:39.
• Francisco Trinaldo def. Yancy Medeiros — unanimous decision; round 3, 5:00.
• John Lineker def. Rob Font — unanimous decision; round 3, 5:00.
• Antônio Rogério Nogueira def. Patrick Cummins — TKO (punches); round 1, 4:52.
• Sergio Moraes vs. Luan Chagas — split draw; round 3, 5:00.
• Renato Moicano def. Zubaira Tukhugov — split decision; round 3, 5:00.

UFC 198 gave Brazil a stadium-sized event but ended with Miocic silencing the home crowd and beginning one of the most important heavyweight championship runs in UFC history.

Sources

UFC: complete UFC 198 results; Sherdog.

Article Tags

UFC, UFC 198, Mixed Martial Arts