UFC 213 is hiding a pretty good heavyweight tilt on the pay-per-view portion of the event.
No, not Daniel Omielanczuk and Curtis Blaydes. You are probably getting what you pay for in that one.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum will battle former Strikeforce and K-1 Grand Prix champion Alistair Overeem in a matchup of two of current champion Stipe Miocic’s more recent victims.
Miocic, presently without a clear challenger, obliterated both men with his trademark power punching and left both in puddles on the octagon floor.
Those memorable ways he dispatched both Werdum and Overeem have branded the images of each—unconscious, saved only by the merciful hands of an official—into the front of most MMA fans’ minds.
And while it’s right that people should remember those images and maybe even right that there should be some skepticism about athletes in their late 30s regaining glory from years past after losing so convincingly, there is a truth at play going into UFC 213: Despite those setbacks, both Werdum and Overeem are still championship material.
In the case of Werdum, he’s 7-1 since returning to the UFC in 2012 and only ever looked challenged against Miocic. Even that loss came as much out of a tactical error as anything else, where absent-mindedly chasing his circling opponent created a bad angle for him, and Miocic capitalized with a big, fight-ending punch.
That happens at heavyweight. It’s that constant dancing on the edge of a finish that makes it appealing.
In the latter stages of his career, Werdum has gotten exponentially better as a striker and remains one of the most feared grapplers in the business. That combination of skill, when added with his calmness and ability to pace a fight to his liking, is exactly the type of thing championship runs are made of. Beat Overeem, which he did in 2006, and he could easily be back in there with Miocic again.
For Overeem, a stellar 7-4 UFC record is probably more unceremonious than it should be. He was seen as a conqueror of worlds when he demolished Brock Lesnar in 2011, but PED problems and three vicious stoppage losses in four fights after the meeting with Lesnar kind of derailed that.
Still, he used those losses as a means of bettering himself.
He came back more cautious and with more control, got into a groove of activity and rattled off four wins in a row before Miocic halted him as well. He has since rebounded against Mark Hunt, and in a division that isn’t rich with variety among its contenders, he might also see a title rematch on the other side of Werdum, whom he defeated in 2011.
Both of these athletes are still at their respective peaks and have experience against one another. In a way, this bout was the trilogy fight no one knew they needed until the UFC booked it. It’s a chance for each man to settle a score that’s been drawn out over a decade while they also remind everyone they aren’t far from title talk and probably never were despite the recent rockiness.
When that rockiness comes in the form of being on the wrong end of the vaunted right hand of the best heavyweight alive, though, it shouldn’t hurt someone’s career the way many violent losses might.
And that’s where these guys are. Each man will look to come out on top one more time in a contender bout and look to once again prove he has what it takes to be a world champion.
With success at UFC 213 on Saturday, Miocic should be right there to give the winner a chance to do just that.
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