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UFC 141: Alistair Overeem Talks Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos

Fresh off his dominant win over Brock Lesnar at UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) 141, Alistair Overeem has had time to mull over the main events outcome as well as to give his thoughts on the projected matchup with UFC heavyweight champion Junior D…

The Dutchman’s prediction of a first-round stoppage came to fruition as he scored a TKO over his fellow behemoth in 2:26 of said round.

“I predicted it the evening before to my fiancee,” Overeem said at the post-fight press conference at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. “I said, ‘First I’m going to do this, then I’m going to do that, and I’m going to finish it with a liver kick.’ I don’t know if it’s luck or it’s strategy. But it turned out that way, and I’m just happy that it did,” Overeem told Heavy.Com.

Overeem (36-11-1NC MMA, UFC 1) has had his fair share of cynics heading into the bout—some believed that he would be out of his depth against someone with the wrestling pedigree of Lesnar.

There was also doubt with regards to his abilities as an elite mixed martial artist.

Add to the fact that UFC President Dana White had also voiced his opinion on the outcome of the fight (in favor of Lesnar), the win makes it all the more satisfactory for the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion.

“Let me say in front of everybody here that I was wrong,” White said after the fight. “I said it before Alistair came into the UFC, and I said it leading up to this fight to myself because I never give predictions (publicly). But I thought Brock Lesnar was going to beat Alistair Overeem tonight. I did. I was wrong, and he looked damned good tonight. He made quick work of Brock Lesnar,” White said.

Following his loss to Overeem, Lesnar (5-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) subsequently announced his retirement from the sport.

The former WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and UFC heavyweight titlist had suffered a recurrence of diverticulitis coming into the bout.

It was also the first time he’d set foot into the Octagon since he lost the title to Cain Velasquez at UFC 121.

All in all, the time on the sidelines culminated in 14 months of inactivity for Lesnar.

“I think he shouldn’t walk away,” Overeem said. “Love him or hate him, it’s always something when Brock’s fighting. He’s a guy who goes for it. I think he achieved a lot in a short span. It would be a shame if he stops now. I think there’s still more to gain for him.”

Now that Overeem has the moniker of No. 1 contender in the heavyweight division, all that’s left is the fight itself.

Barring any injuries to Overeem and “Cigano” or any unforeseen circumstances for that matter, the matchup should go ahead sometime in 2012 or as “The Demolition Man” would have it, before the end of the summer.

“I can only say I was very motivated,” Overeem said. “I just wanted to get in there and show everybody, show the world, that I’m ready. And that I’m coming. Junior dos Santos is a very different fighter, so the game plan will be very different. … I’d like to have a nice long holiday, and arrange some stuff or get some stuff in order. So maybe (fight dos Santos) before the end of summer. I think everybody’s excited for this fight, and so am I.”

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Is Chael Sonnen’s Act Getting Old?

Chael Patrick Sonnen’s name is synonymous with eloquence, trash-talking, braggadocio, money laundering, steroid taking, politics and most importantly with one Anderson “The Spider” Silva. Initially, Sonnen’s vocal rhetoric came …

Chael Patrick Sonnen’s name is synonymous with eloquence, trash-talking, braggadocio, money laundering, steroid taking, politics and most importantly with one Anderson “The Spider” Silva.

Initially, Sonnen’s vocal rhetoric came to the fore during the leadup to his UFC 117 clash with the aforementioned.

It was, however, after he’d administered the worst beat-down that Silva had ever experienced in his MMA career, that Sonnen the man and Sonnen the character really caught the public’s attention.

In essence, it was the beginning of the Sonnen show.

The self-proclaimed “American Gangster” went into overdrive—to date, no one has been immune to the acidic vitriol that emanates from Sonnen’s oral orifice.

Uncle Chael’s offensive remarks toward Brazil were met with fury and threat of violence.

He lambasted the Nogueira brothers, questioned Wanderlei Silva’s authenticity as a mixed martial artist, queried Junior Dos Santos’s knee injury sustained after his championship-winning bout with Cain Velasquez, demeaned both Antonio Silva and Lyoto Machida, and the list goes on.

As for Silva, Sonnen has berated, derided, cajoled, abused and called out the UFC middleweight champion at every given opportunity.

He wants another shot at Silva and the title, a title he would have the public believe was ripped from his grasp, even though he genuinely knows he lost the match.

Does he deserve a rematch with Silva? My answer is no.

Nevertheless, it’s open to debate.

Still, the bottom line is this—you don’t get what you’re given, you get what you ask for, and that’s what he has so meticulously and expertly done.

With that said, he walks around proclaiming to be the UFC middleweight champion.

Bear with me—I couldn’t just get straight to the subject matter without a little bit of Sonnen history—that would’ve done a disservice to the man.

In a recent interview with Michael Landsberg, he consigned The Spider to the history books, and in doing so laid down the gauntlet to the triumvirates of the heavyweight, light heavyweight and welterweight assemblages—Junior Dos Santos, Jon Jones and Georges St. Pierre.

Still, in his most recent Sonnen-esque moments, he tweeted his own version of the 12 days of Christmas—hilarity comes to mind, because that’s what is was.

He also had a dig at Brock Lesnar following his defeat at the hands of Alistair Overeem at UFC 141—“Brock was robbed!!!” Sonnen tweeted.

With every vocalized syllable that has been emitted from his mouth, can he actually be serious? You’re damn right he’s serious—well, only if you’re of the gullible persuasion?

So, is Sonnen’s act getting stale? At present, I have to say a resounding NO.

Though, Sonnen’s orotundity will come to a grinding halt if he’s unable to defeat Mark Munoz on Jan. 28, 2012 at UFC on Fox 2.

If, however, he gets past “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” but falls at the next hurdle—the middleweight Holy Grail (dependent on whether Silva systematically puts a clinic on him), then his act will be well and truly over.

His comments and quotes will be laughable, and my guess is that he’ll fade away quietly or try to reinvent himself somewhere else—maybe in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.

For now, Sonnen’s act is an ongoing concern—his entertainment value is par excellence.

For all his faults and over-the-top antics, MMA and the UFC need Sonnen.

As far as shooting stars go, he’s still here, glowing ever so brightly.

It’s safe to say that while some of the elite fighters of the UFC had been immersing themselves in glory, Sonnen on the other hand had been cautiously waiting in the wings, and just like that, he’s struck gold.

Now it wouldn’t be a Sonnen article without a quote or two by the magniloquent one, so here are a few of his quotes to whet your appetite.

“When you are the best fighter in the world they have a name for you. They don’t call you a great fighter, they call you Chael Sonnen.”

“Wand, you might as well fill out your own toe tag. Where is says ‘Cause of death,’ just write, ‘I pissed off a Gangster.'”

“He’s got a black belt under the Nogueiras. I think a black belt under the Nogueiras is saying, like, I got a free toy in my Happy Meal. I don’t really understand what the big deal is. One of ’em’s a punching bag, and the other one I just ignore; he’s really irrelevant.”

“I’ll throw my shoe at Brock Lesnar and make him bring it back to me shined.”

“I’d slap you in your face and you wouldn’t do anything, Brock.”

“We only had one and that was Chandella (Powell). The other was the IQ card girl. Arianny [Celeste] kind of walks around and holds up her latest test score. One time when there was a title fight, she got all the way up to five and we were very proud of her.”

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UFC 141 Results: Alexander Gustafsson and 5 Other Future Title-Fight Contenders

With his Round 1 beatdown of Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC 141, Alexander Gustafsson entrenched himself amidst the 205-lb title contenders to Jon “Bones” Jones and his light heavyweight crown. Still, he’ll have to fight his way to the f…

With his Round 1 beatdown of Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC 141, Alexander Gustafsson entrenched himself amidst the 205-lb title contenders to Jon “Bones” Jones and his light heavyweight crown.

Still, he’ll have to fight his way to the front of the queue as there are several other fighters in the hunt as well.

Let’s see.

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UFC 141 Results: Has Alistair Overeem Removed The Doubts About His Abilities?

Following his successful debut at UFC 141, Alistair Overeem now finds himself atop the heavyweight division’s contendership.It’s safe to say that The Demolition Man’s one-round annihilation of Brock Lesnar was tantamount to a broad daylight mugging.He …

Following his successful debut at UFC 141, Alistair Overeem now finds himself atop the heavyweight division’s contendership.

It’s safe to say that The Demolition Man’s one-round annihilation of Brock Lesnar was tantamount to a broad daylight mugging.

He wrecked him with a demoralising kick to the body, before unleashing a succession of punches to the downed Lesnar, which left the referee with little choice other than to intervene and bring a halt to the main-event’s proceedings.

Apropos his aptitudes, in my honest personal opinion, I, for one, have never doubted his skill set—enough to boldly predict a first-round stoppage, which in the end came to fruition.

Overeem is a former Strikeforce, K-1 and Dream heavyweight champion. In his 36 victories, he has dispatched 15 of his opponents by way of KO/TKO and 19 via submission.

That per se, should be enough to dispel any notions of his legitimacy as a mixed martial artist, but it won’t.

Even with an emphatic victory over an opponent who was supposed to test him like no fighter had before, there’ll still be that section of fans that will continue to doubt his abilities.

The Dutch Cyclone is next slated to throw down with UFC heavyweight kingpin Junior “Cigano” dos Santos sometime in 2012.

With that said, if he were to defeat Cigano, that wouldn’t assuage said fans either.

It’d be a case of he beat a fellow stand-up striker, case closed.

The fans wanted to see Overeem tested against an elite wrestler as well as his reaction once planted on his back.

They got that in the guise of Lesnar, but he failed woefully.

The only way Overeem will be considered an upper-echelon fighter with proven capabilities is if he defeated the top five heavyweights in the UFC assemblage.

So far, it’s one down and four to go.

The fighters in question minus Cigano are former UFC heavyweight titlists Cain Velasquez (NCAA Division-I wrestler) and Frank Mir (jiu-jitsu wizard).

Next on that list is former title contender Shane Carwin (NCAA Division-II wrestler and striker).

Defeating the aforementioned fighters should be enough to satiate the fans in to believing that “The Reem” has the requisite ability to hold court with the best that the UFC’s heavyweight class has to offer.

To view the latest Top 10 ranked UFC heavyweight fighters go here.

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UFC 141 Results: 4 Things Brock Lesnar Needs to Improve on If He Returns

Brock Lesnar suffered a humiliating first-round pasting courtesy of Alistair Overeem at UFC 141, and with that loss, his second consecutive defeat, he subsequently announced his retirement. Whether the NCAA Division I standout will ever set foot in the…

Brock Lesnar suffered a humiliating first-round pasting courtesy of Alistair Overeem at UFC 141, and with that loss, his second consecutive defeat, he subsequently announced his retirement.

Whether the NCAA Division I standout will ever set foot in the Octagon again is anyone’s guess.

Still, if after sober reflecting on his decision, and if he then decides to make a return to the Zuffa-based promotion, Lesnar seriously needs to improve on his all-around skill set.

Here’s a look at what Lesnar needs to improve on.

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UFC 141 Results: What Johny Hendricks Needs To Improve On

At UFC 141, Johny Hendricks turned out the lights of the durable Jon Fitch with one punch in just a matter of 12 seconds of the first round. That win has now propelled him to one of the top-ranked welterweights in MMA, alongside such combatants as Geor…

At UFC 141, Johny Hendricks turned out the lights of the durable Jon Fitch with one punch in just a matter of 12 seconds of the first round.

That win has now propelled him to one of the top-ranked welterweights in MMA, alongside such combatants as Georges St-Pierre, Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit and Jake Ellenberger.

Still, with only 12 seconds to showcase his skills, not a lot was learned about Hendricks that we already didn’t know, save for the fact that he possesses one-punch knockout power.

The Team Takedown trained fighter now has an impressive record of 12 wins, with his sole loss coming by way of a unanimous decision victory to Rick Story at The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale.

Apart from the Fitch knockout, “Big Rig” has to date dispatched six of his opponents via TKO.

So, it’s safe to say, that apropos his striking ability, there’s not that much to improve on.

Hendricks is also an NCAA Division I wrestler, an attribute which has more than contributed to his achieving victory in most of his fights.

He is also a black belt jiu-jitsu practitioner, but has thus far only recorded one win via submission—a d’arce choke against Richard Gamble back in March of 2008 at HDNet Fights Xtreme Fighting League 1.

With that said, the most obvious area of Hendricks’ skill set that requires improvement is his submission fighting.

If he can improve on his submission techniques and execute them efficiently, he’ll be the total package and a monumental force to be reckoned with in the welterweight division.

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