There was a tapping sound coming from somewhere. It wasn't the slow, methodical type, but a rapid-fire version so dominant it made the tabletop shake.

A quick scan of the scene revealed the culprit as the large man sitting directly opposite of me. He was clearly nervous, and his anxiety showed in his gigantic hands. Once he noticed me noticing, his sense of humor opened the door for a bare-bones honesty uncommon among fighters.

"I'm actually pretty nervous," the man said with a laugh. "I really haven't done many of these and definitely not in person. It's all still pretty new to me, and I want to do my best."

All modesty aside, the only thing Stipe Miocic knows how to do is bring his best.

The Ohio native's efforts inside the UFC Octagon catalyzed our meetup on that breezy summer day in June of 2012. He had just made the biggest statement of his career two weeks earlier when he finished a game Shane del Rosario during the second round of their tilt at UFC 146.

On a card filled with heavyweights, Miocic's performance stood out. Proof of this notion came the following day, when the senior editor of the magazine I wrote for called and sent across the assignment. I was a Midwest-based guy, and with Miocic born and bred in Cleveland, my editor thought it made perfect sense.

He believed Miocic owned the skills to become a future champion. It was the type of foresight which makes story chasers good in a job where hard breaks and rapid rises make guesswork commonplace. I messaged Miocic's manager, and two hours later the date was set for our sit down.

During the interview, I made mention of my editor's belief the then-undefeated former baseball player and wrestler turned mixed martial artist would one day be the UFC heavyweight champion.

"I'm going to have that belt someday," Miocic said. "I'm going to be the best heavyweight in the world."



Sep 10, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Stipe Miocic (red gloves) defeats Alistair Overeem (blue gloves) during UFC 203 at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Four years, three months and two days later, 18 miles from where a nervous Miocic waded hesitantly into an interview, the city he'd always loved stood tall to prove they loved him back. Clevelanders showed up en masse to watch him do what he does best, and true to form, Miocic did not disappoint.

In classic Midwestern fashion, Miocic overcame early adversity to rally back and knock out former K-1 and Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem. Moments after the Dutchman went limp, the 34-year-old champion sat atop the Octagon wall and took in the insanity of 14,000 of his fans going berserk.

The Quicken Loans Arena was deafening from the outpour of support for a job well done, and Miocic sat with arms wide open to take it all in.

It was a crowning moment, as a talented champion walked through the fire to become king. And rather than claim the spotlight to be his and his alone, Miocic used his post-fight interview to share the moment with all who support him. Because of it, Cleveland will only love him more, and a large portion of the MMA world has started to follow suit.

And for good reason, because there isn't much not to love about Miocic.

In a sport where failed drug tests and full-throttled self-promotion make role models difficult to find, Miocic has proven to be one of the good guys.

There's no controversy where Miocic is concerned, and he's earned every step of his success on merit over mouthpiece. By all measures, the heavyweight champion actually leans on the shy side of things in person, which is a strange trait for a man with a public career.

His sense of humor is as powerful as it is sharp, which can be verified by anyone who has ever exchanged banter with Miocic over Twitter. This writer knows a thing or two about Miocic's 140 character prowess, as a misplayed gamble on my part resulted in having to wear a Cleveland Browns jersey for an entire football season.

I live in Indianapolis, Colts country if you will, and walking around the grocery store on a Sunday in a Browns jersey was rough—the modern day Scarlet Letter alive and strong in 2015.



Sep 10, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Stipe Miocic (red gloves) competes against Alistair Overeem (blue gloves) during UFC 203 at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Outside of the cage, one would be hard-pressed to find reason to dislike Miocic, and the skills he's put on display inside the Octagon are bringing fans by the score to his side of the table. In the four years since he found success at UFC 146 in Las Vegas, he's secured victory in all but two of his nine showings under the bright lights, defeating a collection of some of the best heavyweights to ever compete in MMA.

And while his wins elevated his status, the two losses he's suffered have been crucial to his growth as a fighter. The setback he took against Stefan Struve in September of 2012 taught him about wasting his gas tank and the danger of throwing caution to the wind in a firefight.

He'd put that education to the test two years later against Junior dos Santos, as Miocic went toe-to-toe with the heavy-handed former champion for the toughest 25 minutes of his career. Where few of his peers had ever successfully stood and traded with the Brazilian knockout artist, Miocic came into the U.S. Airways Center with everything to prove.

Miocic refused to back down or shy away from the threat dos Santos launched at every turn, emerging a better fighter because of it. The end result was a questionable decision many believed should have gone in his favor, but despite the loss, the fact remained Miocic was no longer a prospect.

He was ready to make a run at the heavyweight title, and he hasn't turned back since.

By defeating Overeem at UFC 203, Miocic became one of the few UFC heavyweight champions to successfully defend the belt after claiming it. While that may seem like a small feat, Miocic's accomplishment comes into scope when you realize no titleholder in his division has ever achieved more than two successful defenses.

The history of the heavyweight belt puts miles of distance between Miocic's moment of glory in Cleveland and the next step on his journey, but his current run shows something special could be in the works.



Jan 2, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Stipe Miocic (red gloves) competes against Andrei Arlovski (blue gloves) during UFC 195 at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Dahl-USA TODAY Sports

Miocic's win in Cleveland put him on the road to even bigger things, and the stakes will rise going forward. The name sticking out boldly in the current title picture is Cain Velasquez--a former king on his own comeback trail.

The former two-time champion is widely regarded as one of the best heavyweights in the history of the division and would present the perfect challenge for Miocic. Despite two losses of his own, Velasquez's mixture of agility, wrestling and cardio are a nightmare to deal with, and these skills have kept him in the elite tier of the heavyweight division for the past seven years.

Those attributes just so happen to be precisely what has put Miocic at the top of the mountain, and a potential showdown between the two would carry more than just the big fight feel. It would represent a pivotal point for the division itself, as either the current champion will clear a tremendous hurdle and land on the doorstep of history, or a former titleholder completes his resurgence to reclaim the spot he's twice held.

Not only is that a great storyline, but it's exactly the type of drama and romanticism that makes the fight game an incredible spectacle.



Jun 22, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic poses with fans prior to the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA championship parade in downtown Cleveland. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Yet, while the future could turn in any number of ways, Miocic has made the here and now all his own.

The four-fight winning streak Mioicic currently rides reads like a who's who of heavyweight royalty, and he's grabbed definitive victories in each of them. Miocic made the most of every opportunity in front of him, and in doing so, he's carved out his place as the best heavyweight in the world.

Miocic's three victories in 2016 have him in the lead for "Fighter of the Year" honors—and on the cusp of becoming a much larger star in the fight game. He's worked for everything acquired, and there's no doubt Miocic plans to defend his title with every ounce of what he has to offer.

For a man who once sat quietly at a restaurant table battling his nerves, politely waiting for his first magazine interview to start to becoming a champion, his city—and those who follows his sport—can be proud of the journey.

All Miocic ever wanted was to give his best, and lucky for us, his best is something we are all getting to witness.