Ever since Alistair Overeem took a vacation from his senses in his stunning defeat against Antonio “Big Foot” Silva, I have been wondering: “Why?”
Obviously, he thought Silva was nothing but a slow-footed, limited fighter.
But with a title shot on the line, why would anyone assume his victory was a forgone conclusion? Overeem’s perfunctory performance in the cage that night was nothing more than sheer arrogance. Ducking your head and bobbing and weaving only work when you make your opponent pay for missing, and Overeem didn’t do that.
Instead, Overeem seemed content to try to do his best Pernell Whitaker impression, and as we all saw, he’s no “Sweet Pea.” He was entertaining himself instead of trying to win the fight.
His bout against Silva was very winnable for him. But in that fight, watching him was like watching the New York Yankees warming up their third-string players. That’s something you just can’t afford to do against a big, powerful heavyweight.
Why would a fighter with so many weapons decide to put them aside in such an important fight?
All his previous titles are yesterday’s news. They mean little if he’s not going to choose the best tools from his considerable toolbox and put them to use.
The time for tall talk is over. From here on out, until he wins a title (and his post-fight drug test comes back clean), he’s a fighter with a 1–1 record in the UFC. His loss says more about him in the eye of the public than his victory over Brock Lesnar. That’s what happens when you lose on the biggest stage in the sport.
If Overeem wants to get that belt, he has to take one fight at a time, and he needs to make some obvious changes…