This article is part of our UFC Picks series.
A month before the Cleveland Cavaliers brought home the Larry O'Brien Trophy, Ohio native Stipe Miocic defeated Fabricio Werdum for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, bringing hometown fans an early taste of what it's like to have a winner in Cleveland. He'll now defend that title in front of his home city against MMA veteran and striking specialist Alistair Overeem. Preceding that bout will be a top contender matchup between Werdum and Travis Browne, who is replacing Ben Rothwell after his withdrawal due to a knee injury. Although Cain Velasquez is the leading option to face the Miocic/Overeem winner, the fighter who comes out on top in the co-main event could be next in line.The pay-per-view portion of this card will also feature the professional fighting debut of WWE Superstar CM Punk, who will enter as a heavy underdog against up-and-coming prospect Mickey Gall. Urijah Faber will look to get back into the win column in a bantamweight matchup against Jimmie Rivera, while ranked strawweights Jessica Andrade and Joanne Calderwood will get the evening started.
If you're looking for a fantasy-specific breakdown of these fights on DraftKings, click here for Jon Litterine's UFC 203 preview.
| MATCHUP | WEIGHT CLASS | JON | EVAN | JAKE |
| Alistair Overeem (+115) vs. Stipe Miocic (-135) | Heavyweight | Miocic | ||
| Fabricio Werdum (-210) vs. Travis Browne (+175) | Heavyweight | Werdum | Werdum | Werdum |
| CM Punk (+375) vs. Mickey Gall (-435) | Welterweight | Gall | Gall | Gall |
| Jimmie Rivera (-130) vs. Urijah Faber (+110) | Bantamweight | |||
| Jessica Adrade (-145) vs. Joanne Calderwood (+120) | Strawweight | Andrade | ||
| RECORD | 3-2 | 2-3 | 3-2 | |
| OVERALL (since UFC 200) | 17-12 | 14-15 | 16-13 |
THE PLAYERS
Jon Litterine: RotoWire lead MMA beat writer and scribe for our weekly DrafKings preview. Lead analyst on the RotoWire MMA Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @JonLitterine.
Evan Dahl: Pens our bi-weekly MMA Barometer column. Follow him on Twitter at @RealEvanDahl.
Jake Letarski: MMA and NCAA Hoops Senior Editor. Sirius XM contributor. Host of the RotoWire MMA Podcast, RotoWire Fantasy Football Podcast and RotoWire DFS Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @JakeSki52.
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