UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic will get to stand on home turf when he looks to defend his belt for the first time, when he meets Alistair Overeem in the main event of UFC 203.
UFC officials today announced the new event, which takes place Sept. 10 at Quicken Loans Arena.
Miocic is currently ranked No. 1 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings. Overeem checks in at No. 4.
The fight card marks the UFC’s first trip to Cleveland and the first time the octagon has visited Ohio since UFC 96, which took place in Columbus in March 2009.
Miocic (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC), of course, scored a first-round knockout of Fabricio Werdum earlier this month at UFC 198 to claim the UFC’s heavyweight title. It was Miocic’s third consecutive knockout win after previously stopping Andrei Arlovski and Mark Hunt. In face, Miocic is now 6-1 in his previous seven outings, with his lone loss coming in a contentious December 2014 decision to Junior Dos Santos.
Meanwhile, Overeem (41-14 MMA, 6-3 UFC) carries a four-fight winning streak into the cage after downing Andrei Arlovski, Dos Santos, Roy Nelson and Stefan Struve in successive fashion. The Arlovski win came earlier this month in the main event of UFC Fight Night 87, and Overeem immediately called for a shot at the UFC’s heavyweight title.
No additional contests for the card were revealed.