USA DAWN: NEWS AND UPDATES

On Saturday night, a fighter from Independence, Ohio, became, for a few minutes at least, the happiest person in Brazil. “I’m world champion!” Stipe Miocic growled as he was encircled by the people closest to him who had traveled to Curitiba, Brazil, to witness UFC 198. “I’m world champion!” The 33-year-old American captured the UFC heavyweight title in grand fashion, stunning into silence a stadium packed with nearly 45,000 mixed martial arts fans, who had come expecting Fabricio Werdum to make his first successful defense of the belt. The week leading up to the fight came across as a sort of crossover period for Werdum. At the age of 38, having defeated Cain Velasquez to take the title 11 months ago in Mexico City, Werdum acted as carefree as any fighter could. Perhaps too much. He took to making goofy faces, a sort of silly brand identity to complement his easygoing personality. Paper cutouts of the odd expression were handed out to fans at the Arena da Baixada ...