UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem kicked off its fan frenzied pre-fight press conference in front of a packed lobby at the MGM Grand. Fans waited for hours for the presser to begin and well, it.
UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem kicked off its fan frenzied pre-fight press conference in front of a packed lobby at the MGM Grand. Fans waited for hours for the presser to begin and well, it didn’t necessarily start with a bang, as media members were less than eager to fire off questions, for it had only been a day since we’d bombarded Brock Lesnar, Alistair Overeem, Nate Diaz, and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone with our challenging inquiries at the open workouts. Lesnar kept things colorful with tossing out a few curse words in his answers, Overeem kept a steady smile, Nate kept his composure, and Cowboy…well, he kept his hat on…that is, until Nate knocked it off. You can watch the entire press conference here or just check out our exclusive photos by Silton Buendia below.
Apparently Nate Diaz was more of a “cops and robbers” kid than a “cowboys and Indians” one growing up and we’re going to go out on a limb and guess he didn’t pretend to be on the good side of the law either.
Nate, who makes up 1/2 of the UFC’s version of The Nasty Boys kept up appearances during the staredowns as he flipped off Donald Cerrone’s trademark cowboy hat before shoving his upcoming opponent for good measure. Alistair Overeem seems unimpressed and barely bats an eye at the confrontation. Where he comes from, pulling something like that would get you slashed with a bottle.
The old saying, “you never know what you have till it’s gone,” rings very true for Efrain Escudero. After a weight cutting issue and a subsequent loss to Charles Oliveira, The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 winner was released from the organization.It took …
The old saying, “you never know what you have till it’s gone,” rings very true for Efrain Escudero. After a weight cutting issue and a subsequent loss to Charles Oliveira, The Ultimate Fighter Season 8 winner was released from the organization.
It took six fights and TJ Grant to have to bow out due to injury, but Escudero (18-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC), is back in the UFC as he will face Jacob Volkman (13-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC), this Friday night at UFC 141 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The fight will be a part of the bouts airing on Facebook.
Escudero is glad to be back in the UFC and the ordeal last year changed his perspective not only on fighting, but also his all-around thinking in life.
It changed my perspective of everything, Escudero told me. Not just personal, kinda like personal life as well. Not just inside the octagon. You live and learn. Some people are really good at it just right off there back.
It took me a little speed bump and stuff. I got carried away. Now, I’m a gym junkie. I’m back to being the same old me that was before I went into The Ultimate Fighter. The one that had nothing to lose and everything to gain and just do it and love the sport, love the adrenaline rush, love everything.
A lot of people say, “Why be in there if your gonna be nervous or scared or doing it for the paycheck?” I have a college degree. If I want a paycheck, I’ll do my normal job. I do this because I love it.
When you get released for whatever reason, you would think they would learn from the mistake on why they got released and help you refocus. Escudero says family issues were the reason for him missing weight and it was a fluke.
No, actually the Oliveira fight was a fluke. I had a lot of family issues, my weight. I was dealing with a lot. I let these family issues and everything get in the way of me and my performance and everything. You know, I let my arm be broken by Evan Dunham. You think I’m gonna tap to a choke? There’s no way. I’ll go unconscious before I tap. I was just having a bad day and just the weight cut. I was thinking about that. My body shut down.
Me wrestling for 11 years has taught me, you make weight no matter what. That’s your priority, to make weight. That’s actually the first time ever in my entire career of not making weight like even in the wrestling match and everything.
A lot of people were stunned to see Escudero get released after the Oliveira fight and didn’t think it was just. Escudero says he learned from his mistakes and won’t complain if it was just or not.
I’m not gunna sit here and brag like I told everybody that said I was released. If I sit here and complain and whine, things aren’t gonna change. I gotta learn from my mistakes. Gotta get back in there and I gotta fight. I have to prove to them I can make weight and I can maintain weight down. I’m here for real, I’m here to stay and my release coulda been too soon. Prolly give me a one more shot deal, but I’ll take it and I learned from it. I got nobody to blame but myself.
When you get released from the biggest organization in the world, taking fights in other organizations could be seen as a step down.
Not for Escudero.
He fought six times outside the UFC All he wanted to do was fight and didn’t care what type of fight it was or where it was.
My feeling was, I have to go back and earn it again. Regardless of UFC or no UFC, I gotta go out there and win. There’s not like a basketball team. They don’t look at the Phoenix Suns, “like oh there not a threat in the playoffs I shouldn’t really go in there and beat them.”
Basketball, you have to beat everybody regardless of where it is. Doesn’t matter which organization. You go out there to win. That’s what I was missing. I had to go back and relearn myself, he strategy and reteach myself that. We’re out there to win regardless. UFC, no UFC, bum fight, bar fight, which I don’t recommend anybody doing. Bar fight, anywhere, you’re there to win.
Every fighter’s dream is to fight in the UFC. In Escudero’s case, he was already there before and knew it was a matter of time before he returned.
My reaction was really good. I knew this was going to happen. I knew I was going to have to come in as a replacement. The weight class is stacked right now. A lot of talent is stuffed at 155. I knew something like this was going to happen.
His opponent at UFC 141—Jacob Volkman—has won four straight after losing his first two bouts in the UFC. Escudero respects Volkman and his background. He knows Volkman is coming out to win and will do whatever is necessary to win the fight.
I actually know quite a bit (about Volkman). He comes from a wrestling background back in the day in college and high school. I was a big wrestling fan. I know he’s a big wrestler, a three-time All American. Other than that, I know he’s going to come out there and fight. I have seen what he’s been doing. I saw his fights and stuff. A lot of people might call him boring because he goes out there and holds people. I think that’s his game plan: He goes out there to win fights. He does whatever he needs to do to win fights.
Escudero knows it’s been a long road and winding back to the UFC and plans to show that to Volkman on Friday night. “I know he’s hungry. I don’t know if he looks at me as a late replacement, kind of like ‘ok we’re gonna get by him.'”
I see like an exciting fight from my eyes. All I have to say is Volkman, I respect you as a person, but once we step into that octagon, you better be ready to scrap because these last 13-14 months have been hell and I’m ready to come back.
You can listen to the two part interview with Efrain Escudero here.
Brock Lesnar became famous for his muscularity and massive size but those attributes seemed less apparent at the recent UFC 141 pre-fight press conference. Lesnar’s sporty suit couldn’t mask the apparent fact that the once-enormous Lesnar looked m…
Brock Lesnar became famous for his muscularity and massive size but those attributes seemed less apparent at the recent UFC 141 pre-fight press conference.
Lesnar’s sporty suit couldn’t mask the apparent fact that the once-enormous Lesnar looked much slimmer.
After all, Lesnar is coming off a second bout with diverticulitis. It’s possible that the disease sapped the bulk of Lesnar’s frame.
The former WWE star overcame his first infection with the intestinal disease without losing a significant amount of girth, but this second time dealing with it may have seriously hindered the Minnesota native’s efforts in the gym.
Even before the press conference, there was talk of Lesnar’s shrinking size.
In a commercial for the WWE‘s recent video game, his upper body was noticeably smaller than it had been in the past—although, to be fair, it was still larger than most regular people’s.
If this loss of muscle mass equates to a significant loss of strength, how will it affect Lesnar?
Badly. It may well cost him the fight.
Lesnar’s opponent, Alistair Overeem, is the most physically-imposing heavyweight in MMA today, and his size and strength have increased almost exponentially since the Dutchman fought at light heavyweight several years ago.
Overeem knows Lesnar will be looking for a takedown and will have his sprawl perfected in anticipation of Lesnar’s first big bull-rush at the start of the fight.
Without his trademark strength and size, Lesnar won’t be able to take Overeem down and will be in a world of hurt when the K-1 champion Overeem blasts him with an array of devastating strikes.
However, it’s possible that Lesnar has retained his strength and only lost his “beach muscles.” We’ll know more once we see Lesnar at the weigh-ins.
And, of course, all will be revealed Friday night, when we see Lesnar and Overeem finally go toe-to-toe in the Octagon.
Undefeated in the past four years, Alistair Overeem has become the uncrowned king of the heavyweight division in the eyes of many. Though, while some fans have been quick to jump on Overeem’s bandwagon, there is also a faction of non-believers who ques…
Undefeated in the past four years, Alistair Overeem has become the uncrowned king of the heavyweight division in the eyes of many. Though, while some fans have been quick to jump on Overeem’s bandwagon, there is also a faction of non-believers who question the former Strikeforce champion’s level of competition.
A lackluster victory over Fabricio Werdum under the Strikeforce banner earlier this year did little to silence Overeem’s critics. However, at UFC 141, Overeem will have another chance to make believers out of those who remain skeptical of his abilities.
While Overeem may have had to overcome a few obstacles to simply remain on the UFC 141 fight card, those close to “The Reem” have helped alleviate his obligations.
“[My team] basically took out all the small errands and all the small distractions away from me, so I could focus on training,” Overeem told Heavy MMA in an interview at the UFC 141 open workouts. “Of course, there has to be some distractions with the Nevada State Athletic Commission and with my mother’s situation, but I put the work in and I feel strong and I feel confident.”
Overeem will need to have complete focus on Friday night, when he will attempt to finally become universally recognized as one of the best heavyweights in the world by defeating Brock Lesnar. Though Lesnar has been sidelined for a lengthy period of time due to a second bout with diverticulitis, Overeem is fully aware of the former UFC champion’s freakish ability.
“He has beaten Randy Couture for the title and he was UFC champion,” Overeem said. “The UFC is the biggest promotion out there, so I definitely think he does deserve that recognition and he’s also an entertaining fighter.”
Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.
LAS VEGAS — Watch below as UFC president Dana White discusses the UFC 141 main event between Alistair Overeem and Brock Lesnar, Overeem’s issues leading up to the event, Lesnar’s road back to the UFC, the Donald Cerrone–Nate Diaz scuffle at the press conference, the return of Efrain Escudero, educating the public that this event is happening on a Friday, and rewriting the UFC history books to award Duane Ludwig with the fastest KO.
LAS VEGAS — Watch below as UFC president Dana White discusses the UFC 141 main event between Alistair Overeem and Brock Lesnar, Overeem’s issues leading up to the event, Lesnar’s road back to the UFC, the Donald Cerrone–Nate Diaz scuffle at the press conference, the return of Efrain Escudero, educating the public that this event is happening on a Friday, and rewriting the UFC history books to award Duane Ludwig with the fastest KO.
The old saying, “you never know what you have till it’s gone,” rings very true for