Odds are that no fighter walked into the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday afternoon with more swagger than heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem.
By the time his UFC 156 bout against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva rolled around, Overeem, smirk firmly in place, was all confidence, looking at Silva as nothing more than a bump in the road he had to get past in order to get a shot at UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.
When the fight began it was apparent that Overeem had no respect for the skills of the underdog Silva. Through the first two rounds Overeem had the advantage while Silva didn’t do all that much to make fans believe he was really in the fight.
When the third round began, a new Silva emerged from his corner. He came out and took it right to Overeem, throwing some heavy leather as he backed Overeem into the cage and tore into him. Right hand after right hand found the mark, snapping Overeem’s head back and eventually turning out the lights of the former Strikeforce champion.
Don’t let the official score fool you. This was a knockout and not a technical knockout, as it was scored by referee Herb Dean.
The win put all talk of an Overeem title shot to rest while throwing Silva’s name into the mix as a possible opponent for Velasquez.
The fight also served as an important lesson that no one should ever believe their hype. No one should ever believe the odds. No one should ever take a supposedly easy fight lightly.
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