In literal terms, it is a colossal heavyweight fight. Alistair Overeem and Brock Lesnar clash this Friday night at UFC 141 which emanates from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Lesnar, 5-2 overall in his MMA career, stands 6’3″ tall, weighing in at 263 pounds on average. His last fight came over a year ago when he dropped his heavyweight championship to Cain Velasquez by first round technical knock out at UFC 121.
Overeem, with 35 wins and 11 losses with one no-contest in his career, measures 6’5″ tall and tips the scales at around 260 pounds. Born in England, Overeem, a Dutchman, is one of the most feared strikers in the sport of MMA.
What makes this fight so intriguing is the obvious: two monsters stepping into one cage together to see who is the better man.
However, this fight means so much more. This fight dictates the immediate future of the heavyweight division in the UFC.
Lesnar is coming into this fight after yet another long layoff due to contracting diverticulitis for the second time. His return fight after the first illness was a title defense against Shane Carwin, a fight in which he won by submission in the second round after being brutalized for nearly a whole round.
Lesnar came back that night at UFC 116 in July of 2010 in great shape. He looked lean, strong and did not look as if he was severely ill for months.
However, that was Shane Carwin. This time, he’ll be coming back against someone bigger, better, stronger and more dangerous. He’ll be coming back against someone bigger than him and with more experience.
Alistair Overeem last fought on June 18 of this year, defeating Fabricio Werdum by way of unanimous decision. He is coming on Friday evening riding a seven fight win streak, and will not only look to extend it, but will try to become number one contender for Junior Dos Santos’ heavyweight crown.
It is hard to conceive that Lesnar can win this fight. Although he has won when the odds have been stacked against him, Lesnar has not faced someone of the caliber such as Overeem.
With 14 of his wins coming by way of technical knock out or knock out, Overeem is an elite striker in MMA. He is a K-1 kickboxing veteran with a 10-4 record and a 2010 Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion.
With this threat alone, Lesnar is in trouble. One can hope that Lesnar has been working on his boxing in training camp as he was somewhat exposed when being finished by Velasquez. I do not think there is a real chance that, even with training, Lesnar can compete with Overeem here and will be picked apart as long as the fight stays standing.
With that said, can Lesnar, as strong as he is, take Overeem down? Overeem stands about two inches taller than him and although this may not be a huge difference, Overeem has more mass than Lesnar does.
Overeem, who has transformed his body over the course of his career, sports a bodybuilder’s physique. Obviously, more muscle doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but you wouldn’t be wrong if you said Overeem was stronger than Lesnar.
Lesnar will have a hard time trying to manipulate that mass around the cage and bring him down. Lesnar can wrestle Overeem down, as Lesnar himself is an athletic powerhouse, however if the fight does get to the ground with Lesnar in control, Overeem will have the advantage with the threat of submissions.
Overeem has 17 submissions due to technique in his career, some of which are standing guillotine chokes, key locks, armbars and triangle chokes.
Overeem has trained himself and developed into a well-rounded fighter who cannot be counted out in any aspect. With Lesnar’s relative inexperience and with only one submission win in his career, I do not think his skill set can match up with Overeem’s.
Last but not least, although this is not a championship fight, the bout will go five rounds. Both fighters have always come to fight in great condition, but in this case, regarding conditioning, I give the edge to Lesnar.
Lesnar has less mass, although it isn’t that much less, that his body needs to supply oxygen to. He’ll be able to maneuver around the cage a little quicker and in each of his fights in his career, Lesnar has never fatigued as long as the fight went on.
Lesnar vs Overeem is a fight that piques the interest of every fight fan across the globe. With many of the advantages going to Overeem, it is hard to see Lesnar coming out of this fight with a win. Although you can never count out a guy like Lesnar, the experience level of Overeem and danger he poses with his striking will be too much for Lesnar.
Overeem by round 2 TKO.
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