UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos has been selected to host a live question and answer session prior to the UFC 141 weigh-ins. He is slated to face the winner of the event’s headlining bout between former UFC champ Brock Lesnar and forme…
UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos has been selected to host a live question and answer session prior to the UFC 141 weigh-ins. He is slated to face the winner of the event’s headlining bout between former UFC champ Brock Lesnar and former Strikeforce, Dream and K-1 kingpin Alistair Overeem
The Brazilian will take questions from the media, as well as members of the UFC’s Fight Club.
The hour-long Q&A will take place from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET on Thursday, Dec. 29. We’ll be posting updates below.
Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com. For anything related to MMA, Follow @RobTatumMMA.
Brock Lesnar vs Alistair Overeem: There are several questions surrounding the main event at UFC 141. Has Brock Lesnar trained enough in striking so that his brain won’t scream “retreat” the first time Alistair Overeem lands a powerful…
Brock Lesnar vs Alistair Overeem: There are several questions surrounding the main event at UFC 141. Has Brock Lesnar trained enough in striking so that his brain won’t scream “retreat” the first time Alistair Overeem lands a powerful strike? Has Alistair Overeem trained enough in takedown defense that he can keep the fight standing? How will the time off and surgery affect Lesnar when the Octagon door locks behind him? There is no doubt that Overeem is the better striker here, just like there is no doubt that Lesnar is the better wrestler. I’m really torn on this one, it all comes down to who can get the advantage early. If Brock gets the takedown right away he’ll win via ground and pound. If Overeem can stun Brock with strikes when he’s going for the takedown, then it’s Alistair’s fight. In the end, I’m going to have to go with the wrestler (although I’m not 100% confident on this)….Lesnar via second round TKO.
Donald Cerrone vs Nate Diaz: If I had to pick a Fight of the Night right now, this one would get it. You know these two guys are going to come out and bring it. There are few fighters in the UFC who seem to love their job as much as these two do; all they want to do is fight. Cerrone is on one hell of a roll and if it wasn’t for a certain UFC Light Heavyweight Champion he would be most likely by a Fighter of the Year candidate. This is probably his biggest test of the year as well, but he’s just been a juggernaut in 2011 and I think he makes it 5-0 with a win over Diaz. Cerrone via unanimous decision.
Jon Fitch vs. Johny Hendricks: A lot of folks are probably dreading this fight and maybe even the UFC since there has been little done in the way of promotion for it. Like it or not, Jon Fitch is one of the best in the welterweight division, the dude just wins. In this fight he will be taking on another high level wrestler in Johny Hendricks and that is why many are concerned about how high the excitement level will be with this fight. We could see 15 minutes of ground control and strikes from short range or, we could see the wrestling go out the window and the two may elect to stand and bang. Yes, I know the latter is unlikely, but one can dream. Either way, it’s Fitch by unanimous decision.
Vladimir Matyushenko vs Alexander Gustafsson: The age difference is pretty glaring in this contest as Vladimir Matyushenko is closing in on 41 while Alexander Gustafsson is 24 years of age. This is a big fight for both of these men. A win from Matyushenko and he proves that even though he may be a bit older than most, he is still a viable commodity in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. A win from Gustafsson and he takes another step up the ladder toward “real deal” status. In this one, youth will carry the day and Gustafsson will win via third round TKO.
Nam Phan vs Jim Hettes: In this fight you have the submission artist versus the fighter that has never tapped. Jim Hettes is 9-0 with all his wins coming via submission before the end of the second round. His opponent, Nam Phan is 17-9 and has never been submitted. Phan is, without a doubt, the best fighter that Hettes has faced in his career, with that being said, the pressure in this bout is clearly on Phan. He has not put together two consecutive wins since 2007-08 and he really needs to capitalize on his recent victory of Leonard Garcia. Will he do it? I don’t think so, Hettes by unanimous decision.
This is going to be a little on the short side because I’m in murder/death/kill mode right now after what happened at the press conference. I’m done talking and ready to fight this guy.
What I can say is that Nate Diaz is a little (individual) who is going to get his ass kicked at UFC 141 tomorrow night.
What happened yesterday when Dana White brought us together to do a pose-down? That was all Diaz. He came towards me, he was mumbling something stupid – who knows what, you can’t tell a word of it and when you do it still makes no sense – and I said “let’s bring it” and he swatted my cowboy hat and acted all tough guy.
That’s a $1000 hat he knocked on the ground.
Yeah, I am pretty damn mad. But I’m not getting paid to fight at press conferences. I get paid to fight at UFC 141 on tomorrow night, co-main event, when it counts and where it counts: in the Octagon.
Let’s see if this little (individual) is brave and such a tough guy on Friday. Let’s see if he gets in my face then. Let’s see if he even has the balls to even come close. I acted like a professional yesterday, and I will act like one today at the weigh-in. Tomorrow night, I’m gonna make him pay.
What yesterday showed was that the bully is getting bullied. The Diaz brothers are bullies, all that street-thug stuff gets inside opponent’s heads. They are the guys who punk everyone out and get in everyone else’s heads, but what’s happened now, tough guy? Now the tables have been turned on you and you are getting punked out, you are the guy freaking out and looking uncomfortable and your delusions of being this intimidating bad ass aren’t working no more.
It feels good to turn the tables, to see this (individual) get punked out. I’m in his head now, he looked uncomfortable when I worked out in front of him, and he freaked out yesterday.
He’s worrying about me rather than on what he’s doing.
But I’m not underestimating him. Like I said all week, I respect the guy as a fighter. He will bring it tomorrow night. I know he will fight with everyone he’s got. But that’s not enough. Nowhere even close.
That same dumb hands-up tough-guy pose he did at the press conference? He does that in the Octagon too. That’s going to be his ticket to a world of hurt. That’s going to get his head bashed in and his ribs cracked open.
UFC 141 is live on Pay-Per-View Friday night at 10ET/7PT.
This is going to be a little on the short side because I’m in murder/death/kill mode right now after what happened at the press conference. I’m done talking and ready to fight this guy.
What I can say is that Nate Diaz is a little (individual) who is going to get his ass kicked at UFC 141 tomorrow night.
What happened yesterday when Dana White brought us together to do a pose-down? That was all Diaz. He came towards me, he was mumbling something stupid – who knows what, you can’t tell a word of it and when you do it still makes no sense – and I said “let’s bring it” and he swatted my cowboy hat and acted all tough guy.
That’s a $1000 hat he knocked on the ground.
Yeah, I am pretty damn mad. But I’m not getting paid to fight at press conferences. I get paid to fight at UFC 141 on tomorrow night, co-main event, when it counts and where it counts: in the Octagon.
Let’s see if this little (individual) is brave and such a tough guy on Friday. Let’s see if he gets in my face then. Let’s see if he even has the balls to even come close. I acted like a professional yesterday, and I will act like one today at the weigh-in. Tomorrow night, I’m gonna make him pay.
What yesterday showed was that the bully is getting bullied. The Diaz brothers are bullies, all that street-thug stuff gets inside opponent’s heads. They are the guys who punk everyone out and get in everyone else’s heads, but what’s happened now, tough guy? Now the tables have been turned on you and you are getting punked out, you are the guy freaking out and looking uncomfortable and your delusions of being this intimidating bad ass aren’t working no more.
It feels good to turn the tables, to see this (individual) get punked out. I’m in his head now, he looked uncomfortable when I worked out in front of him, and he freaked out yesterday.
He’s worrying about me rather than on what he’s doing.
But I’m not underestimating him. Like I said all week, I respect the guy as a fighter. He will bring it tomorrow night. I know he will fight with everyone he’s got. But that’s not enough. Nowhere even close.
That same dumb hands-up tough-guy pose he did at the press conference? He does that in the Octagon too. That’s going to be his ticket to a world of hurt. That’s going to get his head bashed in and his ribs cracked open.
UFC 141 is live on Pay-Per-View Friday night at 10ET/7PT.
Following yesterday’s face-off dust-up with Donald Cerrone, Nate Diaz explained why he was forced to knock off Cowboy’s hat and shove him. In short, Cerrone got too close: “He was just trying to walk forward on me and, y’know, trying to get the jump on me, so whatever. He shouldn’t have walked that close, put his stupid-ass cowboy hat all up on me. I wasn’t trying to be a bully or anything, but he shouldn’t have done that.”
Meanwhile, brother Nick eggs him on as much as possible. Like Cerrone put it before, these two just wake up pissed off all the time for no reason. And remember, Nate and Cowboy still have one more face-off to get through at today’s UFC 141 weigh-ins — and then, y’know, an actual fight. Brace yourselves.
After the jump, a video of the Cerrone vs. Diaz and Lesnar vs. Overeem face-offs from yesterday’s press conference, via Karyn Bryant.
Following yesterday’s face-off dust-up with Donald Cerrone, Nate Diaz explained why he was forced to knock off Cowboy’s hat and shove him. In short, Cerrone got too close: “He was just trying to walk forward on me and, y’know, trying to get the jump on me, so whatever. He shouldn’t have walked that close, put his stupid-ass cowboy hat all up on me. I wasn’t trying to be a bully or anything, but he shouldn’t have done that.”
Meanwhile, brother Nick eggs him on as much as possible. Like Cerrone put it before, these two just wake up pissed off all the time for no reason. And remember, Nate and Cowboy still have one more face-off to get through at today’s UFC 141 weigh-ins — and then, y’know, an actual fight. Brace yourselves.
After the jump, a video of the Cerrone vs. Diaz and Lesnar vs. Overeem face-offs from yesterday’s press conference, via Karyn Bryant.
Filed under: UFC, MMA Fighting ExclusiveHeaded into Friday night’s UFC 141 main event, the question of just how good Alistair Overeem is remains one of MMA’s heated topics. His supporters point out that he’s won titles in Strikeforce, DREAM and K-1. Hi…
Headed into Friday night’s UFC 141 main event, the question of just how good Alistair Overeem is remains one of MMA‘s heated topics. His supporters point out that he’s won titles in Strikeforce, DREAM and K-1. His detractors suggest he’s done most of that while facing non-elite competition.
In some ways, both sides have valid points. Perhaps his performance against Brock Lesnar will provide answers about his place among the heavyweight elite, but until then, it’s worth a look at his recent history.
Overeem shifted divisions to heavyweight for good in 2007, and since then has lost only once. On the strength of an 11-fight unbeaten stretch, most heavyweight rankings have him listed between Nos. 2-4. What’s obvious about that stretch is that he’s been fairly dominant. Seven of his last 10 fights have lasted less than two minutes. But less obvious is that he has seemed to benefit from great timing. His bout with Lesnar will mark the seventh time his last 11 fights he’ll be facing an opponent coming off a loss, an unusually high number for someone competing at a championship level.
In Lesnar’s case, he’s not just looking to rebound from a defeat, but from an illness and surgery that cost him more than a year of his athletic career.
It’s not the first time Overeem has faced down an opponent walking in with little momentum. In fact, of his last 11 opponents including Lesnar, the only one who could boast of any real momentum heading into their bout was Fabricio Werdum, who had won four of his last five and had just become the first man to defeat Fedor Emelianenko in nearly a decade. That victory propelled Werdum to the No. 3 spot on the FightMatrix.com rankings at the time, the highest ranking opponent Overeem has faced during his current stretch until Lesnar.
During his last 10 fights, Overeem has faced three fighters who were ranked in the top 10 at the time, as ranked by FightMatrix’s computer formula. Aside from beating Werdum in a somewhat lackluster decision, he steamrolled No. 8 Brett Rogers in May 2010 and fought to a no contest with No. 8 Mirko Filipovic in September 2008.
The rest of the 10 bouts were mostly a mix of mediocrity, veterans on the way out, and unestablished prospects. Five of the 10 fighters Overeem’s faced during his streak are no longer active in MMA. Three opponents — James Thompson, Gary Goodridge and Lee Tae-Hyun — did not even crack the top 150 at the time they fought Overeem. Thompson walked into his bout with four straight losses, Goodridge — then 42 years old — had lost three in a row, and Tae-Hyun, who was only in his third pro fight, lost in 36 seconds and never fought again.
Tony Sylvester was ranked No. 131 when Overeem fought him. Not surprisingly, he lasted all of 83 seconds. Kaz Fujita was 39 years old and No. 102. Overeem finished him off even quicker, in 75 seconds.
Mark Hunt was a fairly credible opponent. He came in 5-3 but was unranked because he hadn’t fought MMA in over 18 months. Still, he tapped to a keylock in 71 seconds.
Lesnar currently sits at No. 3 on the FightMatrix rankings, one spot ahead of Overeem (by comparison, MMA Fighting rankings have the two flip-flopped). Whichever you accept, it still marks his second straight time battling a top five foe. At the time of publication, Overeem was considered a slight favorite in the matchup.
Even with a win over Lesnar, Overeem likely won’t silence all the questions observers have raised about him. His recent record is too dotted with non-elite opponents, and some will wonder if Lesnar truly competed at full strength. Despite the skeptics who dismiss his resume because of that, there is no question Overeem has dominated the opposition he’s faced and has shown elite ability in several dimensions.
With most of MMA’s top heavyweights under the UFC banner — or soon to be there, given the recent Strikeforce announcement that they’re discontinuing the division and sending their talent to the octagon — Overeem has a chance to erase every last criticism of his in-cage ability.
Here’s a closer look at his last 10 bouts and the competition he’s faced to vault up the rankings.
Opponent: Fabricio Werdum Previous five fights: 4-1 Prior fight: Win Notable: First bout since beating Fedor Emelianenko FightMatrix.com ranking at time of fight: No. 3 Overeem’s ranking at time of fight: No. 8 Age at time of fight: 33 Result: Decision win Current career record: 14-5-1
Opponent: Todd Duffee Previous five: 4-1 Prior fight: Loss Notable: Accepted fight on 2 week’s notice FightMatrix ranking: No. 58 Overeem’s ranking: No. 8 Age: 25 Result: 19-second KO Current career record: 6-2
Opponent: Brett Rogers Previous five: 4-1 Prior fight: Loss Notable: First fight since being KO’d by Fedor FightMatrix ranking: No. 8 Overeem’s ranking: No. 12 Age: 29 Result: TKO, 3:40 of Rd. 1 Current career record: 11-4
Opponent: Kaz Fujita Previous five: 2-3 Prior fight: Loss Notable: Two straight defeats FightMatrix ranking: No. 102 Overeem’s ranking: No. 12 Age: 39 Result: 75-second KO Current career record: 15-9 (retired)
Opponent: James Thompson Previous five: 1-4 Prior fight: Loss Notable: Four straight losses FightMatrix ranking: Unranked Overeem’s ranking: No. 13 Age: 31 Result: 33-second submission Current career record: 16-14, 1 no contest
Opponent: Tony Sylvester Previous five: 4-1 Prior fight: Win Notable: Sylvester’s only career fight vs. a top 20 opponent FightMatrix ranking: No. 131 Overeem’s ranking: No. 13 Age: 31 Result: 83-second submission Current career record: 11-3 (retired)
Opponent: Gary Goodridge Previous five: 2-3 Prior fight: Loss Notable: Three straight losses FightMatrix ranking: Unranked Overeem’s ranking: No. 12 Age: 42 Result: Submission, 1:42 of Rd. 1 Current career record: 23-22-1 (retired)
Opponent: Mirko Cro Cop Previous five: 3-2 Prior fight: Win Notable: Cro Cop had lost two of his last three prior FightMatrix ranking: No. 8 Overeem’s ranking: No. 11 Age: 34 Result: No contest Current career record: 27-10-2, 1 no contest (retired)
Opponent: Mark Hunt Previous five: 3-2 Prior fight: Loss Notable: Overeem took the fight on short notice FightMatrix ranking: Unranked Overeem’s ranking: No. 13 Age: 34 Result: 71-second submission Current career record: 7-7
Opponent: Lee Tae-Hyun Previous five: N/A (third pro fight) Prior fight: Win Notable: Only 1-1 before Overeem fight FightMatrix ranking: Unranked Overeem’s ranking: No. 13 Age: 33 Result: 36-second KO Current career record: 1-2 (retired)
TOTALS Opponents in previous five: 28-19 (.596 win percentage) Average age: 33.1 Combined career record: 131-78-4 (.630 win percentage) Top 10 opponents Overeem faced: 3 Unranked opponents Overeem faced: 4 Average Time of Fight: 3:03 Overeem’s record: 9-0, 1 NC
Filed under: UFCLAS VEGAS — The MMA world is so used to Saturday night pay-per-view events that even UFC president Dana White was bound to slip up when promoting the rare Friday night outing this week. Unfortunately, he made the mistake when talking w…
LAS VEGAS — The MMA world is so used to Saturday night pay-per-view events that even UFC president Dana White was bound to slip up when promoting the rare Friday night outing this week. Unfortunately, he made the mistake when talking with the people at the UFC’s new wireless partner, MetroPCS.
“I just met with the MetroPCS people and I said, ‘I’ll see you Saturday,'” White told reporters following Wednesday’s UFC 141 press conference. “I’m promoting this thing and I said, ‘I’ll see you Saturday.'”
It’s so easy to do. The UFC has gotten its fight week routine down to such a consistent rhythm, fans and media alike are conditioned to expect things in a certain order. Press conference on Thursday, weigh-ins on Friday, fights on Saturday. Only the names and locations change — until this time. But in order to avoid the colossal headache of trying to promote a fight on New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas, the UFC had to move everything up a day this week. Now even White isn’t sure how fans will react.
“To be honest, we’re a little concerned about Friday night,” White said. “Everybody’s programmed for Saturday, Saturday, Saturday.”
And, in theory, the UFC could have slated UFC 141 for Saturday night. After all, big fights on New Year’s Eve are a tradition in Japan, but then so is staying home to watch TV that night. The UFC could have tried to convince fans to order a pay-per-view rather than go out and party, but then, that wouldn’t have been the only gamble, White pointed out.
“The problem is, you can’t put on fights in Las Vegas on [New Year’s Eve],” he said. “They shut the strip down. You can’t even get around here. It would be a nightmare.”
At one point, the UFC president was “almost 100 percent confident” that the organization was headed back to Abu Dhabi for a New Year’s Eve show, he said. And yet here we are again, back in the UFC’s hometown, with White hoping that fans won’t wake up on Saturday morning eagerly anticipating some big fights that they already missed.
It’s one variable of many that makes it hard to predict this event’s chances for success. With UFC 141, the organization is returning to the 10 p.m. ET start time that it had previously abandoned in favor of moving the action up an hour. The UFC also turned to its new friends at FUEL TV — a FOX cable channel that is available in about 60 million fewer homes than the UFC’s former TV partners at Spike — to help promote the event with the customary “Countdown” show.
Ratings were dismal for that effort, with a measly 15,000 viewers for its Dec. 21 premiere, according to MMA Junkie. But White, of course, claimed that this was more or less what he expected so early in the game.
“It wasn’t alarming at all,” he told reporters. “Those are the type of ratings that that network pulls. …Those numbers will build. We’re going to build that network.”
Part of the problem is availability. Fight fans know where Spike TV is on the dial, and most of them probably have it in their cable packages. The same can’t be said of FUEL, though White seems to be hoping that fans will pipe up once the UFC takes its act there full-time in 2012.
“I think that once all this programming goes out on FUEL, I think the fans are going to end up [requesting it from cable operators],” he said. “More and more people are going to want FUEL.”
That’s fine for next year, but what about Friday night? The UFC is offering up one of its biggest pay-per-view draws in Brock Lesnar, not to mention a simmering feud between Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz, and it risks waving goodbye to a healthy chunk of pay-per-view revenue if it can’t get the word out and convince fans to find a seat on the couch by Friday night.
It might not be quite as difficult as putting on a fight in Vegas on New Year’s Eve would have been, but it’s no small challenge, either. When even the president of the company occasionally flubs the night of the show while selling it out in public, you know there are potential problems on the horizon. Once you have to deviate from your own dependable schedule, there are bound to be some people who don’t get the message in time.
UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos has been selected to host a live question and answer session prior to the UFC 141 weigh-ins. He is slated to face the winner of the event’s headlining bout between former UFC champ Brock Lesnar and former Strikeforce, Dream and K-1 kingpin Alistair Overeem
This is going to be a little on the short side because I’m in murder/death/kill mode right now after what happened at the press conference. I’m done talking and ready to fight this guy. 
Headed into Friday night’s 
LAS VEGAS — The MMA world is so used to Saturday night pay-per-view events that even UFC president Dana White was bound to slip up when promoting the rare Friday night outing this week. Unfortunately, he made the mistake when talking with the people at the UFC’s new wireless partner, MetroPCS.