Stipe Miocic on 35 second Fabio Maldonado knockout: I just caught him with a good punch

"He's a game fighter. I didn't know if he was playing possum, you know. It's a five round fight, I just wanted to make sure... he likes to call guys that come into him against the cage, so I just wanted to make sure. (When) I came over with that second right I knew it was over. ... Maybe (the weight difference made a big difference), I don't know. You know, he's a tough guy, he's fought heavyweight before, he said. He's a great boxer and I just caught him with a good punch. It was a good night for me."

-- At the post-fight press conference for last night's (Sat., May 31, 2014) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Brazil 3 Finale in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Stipe Miocic politely explained how he was able to knock Fabio Maldonado out just 35 seconds (watch it happen here) into their main event heavyweight showdown. In fairness, Maldonado took the fight on short notice and moved up in weight, something Miocic was unwilling to lend credence to as a reason he so cleanly took the Brazilian out. With that said, he would only go so far as to say he "caught" Maldonado with the right punch, which is technically true but completely underscores the impressive nature of his victory. As for whether or not he's looking forward to booking the previously planned match-up against Junior dos Santos, Miocic was noncommittal. That's a talk for another day. For now, he's enjoying the fact that he just got paid well for a very short evening of work. Not bad, huh?