Lost in all of the UFC 217 awesomeness was a Showtime Boxing main event between WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) and Bermane Stiverne (25-3-1, 21 KOs). Wilder was scheduled to fight Luis Ortiz at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, only for Ortiz to fail his drug test, hence Stiverne was chosen as the short-notice replacement. This was a rematch absolutely no sensible boxing fan wanted, but it’s one that was made out of necessity.
The storyline for Wilder-Stiverne II was that Stiverne became the first man to go the distance against the heavy-handed Wilder, but he lost a wide unanimous decision and saw his WBC belt go to Deontay.