Alistair Overeem, former heavyweight title-holder in this and that MMA promotion, was up to the task of proving all his worth in his UFC debut versus Brock Lesnar. But coming off that kind of win in UFC 141 last December leaves fans asking for a much tougher next match for The Reem.
Sure, it was a first round finish, but it was as brief as it was wanting. And here’s an equally brief recap from Sherdog.com:
Lesnar bounces on his toes to begin (the first round) as Overeem crouches and approaches with caution. Lesnar wades inside and ducks under an overhand right. Overeem hops away from a Lesnar single leg but he’s cut above his right eye. Stepping in, Overeem lands a solid knee to the body, then shoves him into the fence. More knees up the gut land on Lesnar and the ex-UFC champ is composed but moving backward. Lesnar is throwing single left crosses and gets jacked with another big knee. A kick to the liver sends Lesnar to the floor, covering up. Overeem stands over his crouching, covering opponent, socking Lesnar with heavy right hands until ref Yamasaki steps in. The TKO finish comes officially at 2:26 of round one.
Overeem is not at fault for the fight’s quality, though, as he did win with a stoppage and proved right on his predictions—in less than two rounds and via liver kick—and can be assumed to have had the best intention of putting up an entertaining showcase of his skills.
You can’t blame Lesnar, the wealthy retiree, either, as he claimed to have been healthy and prepared enough to resurrect the monster self who beat Frank Mir “to a pulp.” (Although now, one can’t help but question the veracity of those claims.)
And who wants to lose on that year-end UFC event to start the New Year on a sour note?
But I’m still wondering how Overeem stuffed that single-leg takedown attempt. Have Lesnar’s wrestling skills deteriorated drastically or does Overeem have better balance and takedown defense than previously acknowledged—or both?
Well, UFC 141 may now “only” belong to the very recent past but it’s still over now and 2012 will bring greater challenges to the new and victorious heavyweight recruit; bigger challenges who will surely bring out—again—what the former Strikeforce, Dream Interim and K-1 World Grand Prix Champion is truly made of.
Fortunately, Overeem will be fighting the best next as challenger to UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos in a title match.
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