It is a good time to be a Cleveland sports fan (except for you, Browns fans). The Cavaliers are in the NBA's Eastern Conference finals and seem destined to make their second consecutive trip to the NBA Finals. The Indians are in second place in the AL Central and seemed destined to be in contention all season. A Cleveland native will get a chance to become a champion Saturday night when Stipe Miocic looks to take the heavyweight title from Fabricio Werdum at UFC 198.
LeBron James is perhaps the best player in the NBA, but he hasn't brought a championship to Cleveland. Miocic feels the Cavs are close, but he says he will be the first person to bring home a title since the Browns won the NFL championship in 1964. If Miocic returns with the gold to the Cavs' home court at Quicken Loans Arena, he won't let James touch the belt unless James produces Cleveland's first NBA title.
MORE: UFC 198 odds, predictions | Time, TV info
"We’re so close," Miocic told Sporting News. "We’re nibbling at it now. We’re going to get it. I’m going to bring it home first and LeBron will bring it back to me. We’ll start a trend of winning titles here in Cleveland. As long as he wins the trophy. We’ll do a fair trade."
MORE: Werdum happy to defend title in Brazil
Miocic faces a stiff challenge in Werdum. The Brazilian has won six consecutive fights and is on top of his game. Miocic, a former NCAA Division I wrestler, believes that as long as he brings what he learned during training into the Octagon, he will come home a champion.
"I do what I am supposed to do," Miocic said. "I trained too hard to not become the champion. As long as I do what I’ve done in training camp the last 10 weeks, there’s no reason why when I get inside that octagon that I won’t walk out with that title."
Steven Muehlhausen is an MMA and boxing writer and contributor for Sporting News. You can find his podcast, The Fight Club Chicago, and subscribe on iTunes, Soundcloud and Stitcher. You can email him at [email protected] and can find him on Twitter @SMuehlhausenMMA.
