Alistair Overeem overthinks winning maneuver, loses to Stipe Miocic at UFC 203

Alistair Overeem appeared on the verge of securing his legacy as one of the greatest heavyweights in mixed martial arts history when he dropped UFC champion Stipe Miocic with a straight left hand midway through the first round of the main event of UFC 203 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Saturday night.

Overeem elected to pursue a guillotine choke instead of trying to finish Miocic with punches on the ground. It’s a decision he might regret for a long time.

Miocic escaped from the hold and knocked out Overeem at 4:27 of the first round to retain the belt in his hometown.

“He hit harder than I thought,” Miocic said after successfully defending the belt he won in May for the first time. “He knocked me down, but I wasn’t hurt. I said I would keep this belt for a long time, and I did it. I wanted to shut him down, turn the motherboard off.”

Miocic was able to do that when he finished the fight with short punches on the ground after pushing Overeem down to his back.

Before that, he spent much of the first round chasing a circling Overeem around the cage. Overeem’s big moment came when he planted and squarely landed a left hand on a pursuing Miocic.

He wasn’t able to capitalize and add the UFC belt to a trophy case that includes world titles in several prominent organizations around the world.

It was the fourth straight win for Miocic and third consecutive first-round knockout, but Overeem had a slight issue with the outcome.

While he credited Miocic for the win, Overeem said during the postfight interview he thought Miocic tapped out when he was trying to finish him with the choke.

The replay didn’t appear to confirm Overeem’s claim, which he acknowledged as he viewed the action on the big screen in the arena.

“I (don’t) see it,” he said. “But I felt it.”

The headliner might have been overshadowed in interest by the mixed martial arts debut of former professional wrestler Phil “CM Punk” Brooks, who looked very much like a fighter with no experience as he was mauled by welterweight Mickey Gall.

Gall, who had two prior pro fights, including one in the UFC, secured an immediate takedown when Brooks charged across the cage and pounded on him with punches and elbows, attempting several submissions before locking in a choke at 2:14 of the first round.

“I did want to show off the striking with him, but he came in hot so I took him down,” Gall said. “I wasn’t surprised he got through those early chokes because I was only half-committing, almost playing a game with it in a way.”

Brooks, who signed with the UFC in late 2014 after walking away from the WWE as one of the organization’s biggest stars and took the past 18 months to prepare for the fight, was beaten from the opening bell.

He enjoyed the experience anyway and plans to try it again.

“You know in life you go big or you go home,” he said. “I just like to take challenges. It was a hell of a climb. I didn’t get to the summit tonight, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to give up. It doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere. It doesn’t mean I’m going to stop. I will be back.”

“Believe it or not, this was the most fun I’ve had in my life, second-best night of my life after marrying my wife. I know there’s a lot of doubters, but life’s about falling down and getting back up. Doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, get back up.”

Brooks hopes his journey can serve as an inspiration.

“If there’s any kid out there that’s told by a parent, or coach or teacher or somebody they look up to or somebody that’s supposed to push them and they’re told no, believe in yourself,” he said.

Former champion Fabricio Werdum bounced back from losing the title to Miocic with a unanimous decision over Travis Browne in a lackluster heavyweight bout.

The bizarre fight featured Browne essentially calling a timeout, which was oddly granted, after he injured his finger in the first round. The referee should have considered the move a verbal submission or simply allowed the fight to continue.

Werdum dominated the rest of the round after the restart, but neither fighter did much of anything over the final 10 minutes.

Bantamweight Jimmie Rivera won his 19th consecutive fight and fourth straight since signing with the UFC by taking a unanimous decision over Urijah Faber.

Faber appeared to hurt his right hand early in the fight, and Rivera badly damaged Faber’s leg with kicks to slow him as the fight progressed. Rivera won all three rounds on all three cards.

It was the third loss in the past four fights for Faber.

Jessica Andrade turned in a second consecutive spectacular performance since dropping to the women’s strawweight division with a first-round submission of Joanne Calderwood.

Andrade recorded an early takedown after she was cut by an elbow and then punished Calderwood on the ground before locking in a guillotine choke at 4:38 of the opening round on the first fight on the main card.

“The main goal going in was to stay standing and get the knockout like I had been talking about all week,” Andrade said. “However, I knew that if I got her in the clinch or on the ground I would have the advantage. I just want to stay focused and keep training right now. If they give me the title shot, I’m ready for that, too.”

Las Vegan Brad Tavares returned from 15 months out of action to win a split decision over Caio Magalhaes on the preliminary card.

The middleweight had lost three of his past four fights after winning five straight. Tavares said he wants to return quickly, either on the UFC’s first card in New York on Nov. 12 or the event in Las Vegas on Dec. 30.

Former title challenger Bethe Correia defeated Cleveland native Jessica Eye by decision in a women’s bantamweight fight. Nik Lentz and Drew Dober picked up knockout victories, and Yancy Medeiros won by submission.

Lentz stopped Michael McBride late in the second round of a catchweight bout, and Dober needed 1:45 to stop Jason Gonzalez.

Medeiros choked out welterweight Sean Spencer in the first minute of the second round.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow @adamhilllvrj on Twitter.