5 Things We Learned From UFC 203

For a guy who has always been classy in victory and defeat, Alistair Overeem didn't exactly endear himself to the Cleveland audience and the MMA fanbase as a whole following his first round TKO loss to Stipe Miocic.

Early on in the bout, Overeem dropped Miocic with a hard shot and immediately shot in and secured a guillotine. He only had it locked in for a few seconds before the champion was able to escape, return to to his feet and get back in the fight. In the overall scheme of things it was a brief stumble for Stipe but he never appeared to be in any real danger, going on to batter Alistair into unconsciousness a few moments later.

In the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Overeem claimed that he felt his opponent tap when he had him locked in the submission maneuver. The fans erupted into a deafening chorus of boos, and Rogan, to his credit, called up the replay of the guillotine so we could see if there was any merit to the claim.

After showing it from several angles it was obvious to everyone but Alistair Overeem that there was never a tap, with Rogan even pointing out that Miocic was just working his arms into position to escape the hold. This caused the crowd to boo even louder and Overeem quickly tried to salvage things by thanking Cleveland for their support and for being a great city.

In his defense, Alistair had his bell rung pretty badly and spent a few moments deep withing the shadow realm, so it's possible his brain was so scrambled that he legitimately believed Stipe tapped. I'd rather believe that than think he was so salty about losing that he had to make up a story to save a little face.