UFC 203

UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on September 10, 2016, at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.^[3]

UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem
The poster for UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	September 10, 2016 (2016-09-10)
Venue	Quicken Loans Arena
City	Cleveland, Ohio
Attendance	18,875[1]
Total gate	$2,600,000[1]
Buyrate	450,000[2]
Event chronology
UFC Fight Night: Arlovski vs. Barnett UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Johnson

Background

This was the first UFC event in Cleveland.^[3]

The event was headlined by a UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between current champion (and Cleveland area native) Stipe Miocic against 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix winner and former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem.^[4]

The professional debut of former professional wrestler CM Punk took place at this event. Punk, who signed with the UFC in December 2014, had a delayed debut due to past injuries from professional wrestling that needed treatment and also due to his need for training time. He made his debut against Mickey Gall in a welterweight bout.^[5]

The signing of CM Punk was originally announced during the UFC 181 broadcast on December 6, 2014.^[6]

Ben Rothwell was expected to face former heavyweight champion Fabrício Werdum at this event. However, on August 11, Rothwell pulled out due to injury. A team representative said he may have suffered a torn meniscus and could have an ACL injury.^[7] He was replaced by Travis Browne.^[8] This was a rematch as Werdum defeated Browne via unanimous decision at UFC on Fox: Werdum vs. Browne in 2014.^[9]

A lightweight bout between Erik Koch and Drew Dober was originally booked for UFC 195, but Koch pulled out due to an injury and the bout was scrapped.^[10] The fight was later rescheduled for this event, until Koch pulled out again due to injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Jason Gonzalez.^[11][12]

Mairbek Taisumov was expected to face Nik Lentz at the event. However, Taisumov was removed from the fight on September 1 for alleged visa issues and replaced by promotional newcomer Michael McBride.^[13]

On September 5, it was announced that the lightweight bout between Damir Hadžović and Yusuke Kasuya, slated to open the preliminary portion of the card, was postponed and will now take place at October's UFC Fight Night: Lamas vs. Penn after Hadžović experienced issues with his travel visa.^[14]

Ray Borg was scheduled to face Ian McCall at the event. However, Borg pulled out of the fight on September 7 citing an illness. With no time to find a suitable replacement, McCall was removed from the card.^[15]

Michael McBride missed weight, coming in at 158 lb. As a result, he was fined 20% of his fight purse, which went to his opponent Nik Lentz.^[16]

On the day of the event, C.B. Dollaway was forced out of his bout against Francimar Barroso due to a back injury he sustained in a malfunctioning elevator at his hotel. As a result, Barroso was also removed from the event.^[17]

Results

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Heavyweight	Stipe Miocic (c)	def.	Alistair Overeem	KO (punches)	1	4:27	[a]
Heavyweight	Fabrício Werdum	def.	Travis Browne	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Mickey Gall	def.	CM Punk	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	2:14
Bantamweight	Jimmie Rivera	def.	Urijah Faber	Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27)	3	5:00
Women's Strawweight	Jéssica Andrade	def.	Joanne Calderwood	Submission (guillotine choke)	1	4:38
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)
Women's Bantamweight	Bethe Correia	def.	Jessica Eye	Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28)	3	5:00
Middleweight	Brad Tavares	def.	Caio Magalhães	Decision (split) (28–29, 30–27, 29–28)	3	5:00
Catchweight (158 lb)	Nik Lentz	def.	Michael McBride	TKO (punches)	2	4:17
Lightweight	Drew Dober	def.	Jason Gonzalez	TKO (punches)	1	1:45
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Welterweight	Yancy Medeiros	def.	Sean Spencer	Submission (rear-naked choke)	2	0:49

1. For the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

^[18]

Bonus awards

The following fighters were awarded $50,000 bonuses:^[19]

• Fight of the Night: Stipe Miocic vs. Alistair Overeem
• Performance of the Night: Jéssica Andrade and Yancy Medeiros

Reported payout

The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Ohio Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money or "locker room" bonuses often given by the UFC and also do not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses. The total disclosed payout for the event was $3,056,000.^[20]

• Stipe Miocic: $600,000 (no win bonus) def. Alistair Overeem: $800,000
• Fabrício Werdum: $375,000 (includes $125,000 win bonus) def. Travis Browne: $120,000
• Mickey Gall: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus) def. CM Punk: $500,000
• Jimmie Rivera: $48,000 (includes $24,000 win bonus) def. Urijah Faber: $160,000
• Jéssica Andrade: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus) def. Joanne Calderwood: $25,000
• Bethe Correia: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Jessica Eye: $25,000
• Brad Tavares: $56,000 (includes $28,000 win bonus) def. Caio Magalhães: $20,000
• Nik Lentz: $76,000 (includes $38,000 win bonus) def. Michael McBride: $12,000 ^
• Drew Dober: $38,000 (includes $19,000 win bonus) def. Jason Gonzalez: $10,000
• Yancy Medeiros: $48,000 (includes $24,000 win bonus) def. Sean Spencer: $17,000

^ Michael McBride was fined 20 percent of his purse for failing to make the required weight for his fight with Nik Lentz. That money was issued to Lentz, an OAC official confirmed.

See also

• List of UFC events
• 2016 in UFC