Stipe Miocic KOs Fabricio Werdum to bring UFC belt home to Cleveland

Cleveland finally has a world champion once again.

Stipe Miocic knocked Fabricio Werdum cold Saturday in the main event of UFC 198 in Curitiba, Brazil, catching Werdum with a right hand on the chin, finishing him at 2:47 of the first to bring the UFC heavyweight title back to his hometown of Cleveland.

Werdum was moving forward, chasing Miocic, who was back-pedaling in an effort to create distance. Miocic fired a short right at Werdum that landed squarely on the chin. Werdum fell face first and it was quickly over.

Referee Dan Miragliotta jumped in to stop it, handing Miocic, a one-time wrestling and baseball star at Cleveland State, the heavyweight title.

"Fabricio Werdum is tough, [and] he had me guessing," Miocic said. "I trained hard, man. He’s quicker than I thought. He was catching me off guard. It was a good shot."

Miocic, who is one of the finest athletes in the UFC, was relaxed throughout in the biggest fight of his life. Werdum, who has had notable wins over Fedor Emelianenko, Cain Velasquez, Mark Hunt, Travis Browne, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Alistair Overeem and Roy Nelson, was moving forward and attacking, but Miocic never got flustered.

Werdum landed a couple of good rights, which Miocic took well. The end came as the two traded blows along the cage. They each landed during a flurry, and Miocic began backing away trying to get his distance correct. Werdum was hot in pursuit but left his guard down.

Miocic, 33, who is now 9-2 in the UFC, didn't even set his feet. As he was going back, he fired the right and it was placed perfectly and a new heavyweight era had begun.

"He was better than I was," Werdum said following the bout. "But I'm going to come back and be the champion."

Miocic has been on a roll since his last loss, when he dropped a unanimous decision to Junior dos Santos on Dec. 13, 2014, in a bout many thought he had won. Since then, he has knocked out Mark Hunt — one of the toughest men in the world to finish — former champion Andrei Arlovski and now Werdum.

He's expected to fight Overeem, who defeated Arlovski earlier this month in The Netherlands, later this year.