According to abs-cbnNEWS.com, Alistair Overeem is heading into UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) 141 with the sole intention of inflicting maximum pain on Brock Lesnar—the one man standing in his path to the Holy Grail that is the coveted UFC …
According to abs-cbnNEWS.com, Alistair Overeem is heading into UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) 141 with the sole intention of inflicting maximum pain on Brock Lesnar—the one man standing in his path to the Holy Grail that is the coveted UFC heavyweight title.
The former Strikeforce heavyweight champion, who is slated to make his debut for the Zuffa-based promotion on Friday night, has suggested that in comparison to Cain Velasquez’s punching prowess, he hits a lot harder.
“If you guys think Cain Velasquez hits hard, wait until you see what I’m gonna do to him (Lesnar),” Overeem said in a UFC.com interview.
At UFC 121, Velasquez decimated Lesnar with a series of punches and strikes en route to capturing the heavyweight crown.
That brought about intimations that Lesnar doesn’t react too well to getting hit as well as his lacking the fortitude when rained down with blows.
“The Demolition Man” is obviously aware of this supposed weakness of Lesnar and intends to capitalize on it come fight night.
“Brock doesn’t like to get hit, and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do to him. I’m gonna hit him,” Overeem said. “I’m gonna hit him as hard as I can. I’m pretty good at it.”
The proficient striker (35-11-1NC, MMA) has dispatched 14 of his opponents via KO, and he’s no slouch in the grappling department either, having 19 submissions to his name.
The Dutch heavyweight is also adamant that the fight will not go the planned full five rounds.
“I’m gonna beat Brock up, and it’s gonna take me no more than two rounds,” he said. “I’ll put my mind on the first round, but I can guarantee the second.”
Whether “The Reems” game plan comes to fruition or not, is still left to be seen.
UFC 141 is set for Dec. 30, 2011 at the MGM Grand Gardens Arena, Las Vegas, Nev.
The UFC returns Friday with a stacked year-end card featuring the return of former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, who will be facing former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem in the main event.Lesnar returns from over a year-long…
The UFC returns Friday with a stacked year-end card featuring the return of former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, who will be facing former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem in the main event.
Lesnar returns from over a year-long absence from the sport due to diverticulitis while Overeem was last seen beating Fabricio Werdum in a June rematch.
In the co-main event, lightweight contenders Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz will battle it out for a possible shot at a No. 1 contender’s bout. Whoever wins, it promises to be exciting.
Other main-card bouts include Jon Fitch vs. Johny Hendricks, Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Alexander Gustafsson and Nam Phan vs. Jimy Hettes.
Fight of the Night: Donald Cerrone vs. Nate Diaz
Cerrone comes into the bout with four UFC victories under his belt in 2011. Of those, he has earned three bonuses, including submission, knockout and fight of the night.
For non-champions, Cerrone could be considered a worthy candidate for Fighter of the Year if he gets past Diaz, who has never been stopped in the UFC despite coming up short five times against tough opposition in both the welterweight and lightweight divisions.
This is one of those fights that promises to go the distance considering the toughness of both competitors, but it can’t be overlooked that both are finishers. Of their 31 combined victories, 27 have ended by submission or knockout.
With the constant shifts in momentum that this bout promises to deliver, it will be the most exciting fight on the card and deserve the Fight of the Night bonus.
Submission of the Night: Jacob Volkmann
Lightweight standout Jacob Volkmann will welcome back The Ultimate Fighter winner Efrain Escudero, who is stepping up on short notice to replace T.J. Grant.
With two experienced wrestlers like Volkmann and Escudero, this fight has the potential to play out and be determined by who gets the more dominant positions over their opponent on the ground. Either that, or it will be fought entirely standing, which favors Escudero.
If Volkmann is to get a submission victory, it will probably come late in the fight when the wear and tear begins to get the best of Escudero, who has been submitted twice before in his career.
Knockout of the Night: Brock Lesnar
It won’t be the flashiest knockout, but former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar should be able to get the best of Alistair Overeem sometime in the second or third round of their main-event matchup.
It might not be the finish that is impressive, but the firepower that Lesnar will have to go through to win will showcase one of his best abilities, and that’s he can take a lot of punishment and still come out on top.
Lesnar will be at a big disadvantage standing, but he will only have to take so much before he tries for the takedown and most likely gets it. Overeem won’t have the same option to get the fight back to the feet if he is stuck on bottom and can’t get out from underneath the former NCAA Division I wrestler.
Outside of Cain Velasquez, who is unquestionably a much better wrestler than Overeem, nobody has been able to get up after being taken down by Lesnar.
Cardio will also come into play as this fight hits the second and third rounds. Overeem has only been outside the first round twice in the last five years and hasn’t shown the best cardio in the past, especially when he is on the receiving end of getting hit. The blows he will take on bottom will only zap his energy a lot quicker until the stoppage occurs.
Filed under: UFCThe final UFC event of the calendar year takes place on Friday night, with a heavyweight clash pitting former UFC champion Brock Lesnar against former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem.
The final UFC event of the calendar year takes place on Friday night, with a heavyweight clash pitting former UFC champion Brock Lesnar against former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem.
At UFC 141 in Las Vegas, the pair will be vying for the division’s No. 1 contender spot and a chance to eventually face current champion Junior dos Santos.
The UFC recently produced a “Countdown” video to spotlight the important matchup, and the full episode is after the jump.
Brock Lesnar and Junie Browning may be light-years apart in terms of name recall, but suffice it to say that becoming a UFC fighter is enough to make one more popular than 99.9 percent of the entire world’s human population. (Damn with the exact …
Brock Lesnar and Junie Browning may be light-years apart in terms of name recall, but suffice it to say that becoming a UFC fighter is enough to make one more popular than 99.9 percent of the entire world’s human population. (Damn with the exact computation.)
With that said, it always pays to heed Austin Powers’ signature utterance, “Oh, behave!” unless our fighters’ idea of fun is getting fined, incarcerated or both; with the bonus of getting international bad press for themselves, their respective organizations and their—and our—sport.
The following is a recap of our two fighters’ misdeeds of varying natures, consequences and years of commission:
Lesnar was charged in Canada with 1) improper tagging of an animal during a hunting trip in November 2010, 2) leaving meat to rot and 3) illegal possession of wild life. (The latter two charges were dropped.)
Here’s a statement from Lesnar, from MMAWeekly.com (12/20/11):
In November 2010, I went on a filmed hunt in Alberta, Canada. It was sponsored by Fusion Ammunition and guided by Trophy Hunters Alberta. In Alberta, Americans can’t hunt without a licensed outfitter. The outfitter is there to make sure you follow the rules. I had two deer tags for the trip, which meant I could legally shoot two deer. On the first day of the trip, I shot a mule deer. On the second day, I shot a white tail. Video from the hunt has been on the internet for over a year. After I shot the mule deer, I failed to immediately tag it. As far as I was involved, that’s all there is to it.
Now it’s resolved. I paid my fine today. It’s the kind of thing that happens to hunters all the time. I want to thank the Canadian authorities for their cooperation in resolving this misunderstanding. I love Canada and I can’t wait to go back to Alberta for a hunt.
(In reference to the withdrawn spoilage charge) I can’t really tell you anything about it. I understood I couldn’t bring deer meat home with me across the border even if I wanted to, so I trusted the outfitter to properly handle it. They are professionals and I understand it was handled appropriately.
I’m glad to put this behind me, so I can focus on my fight against Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 on December 30.
Indeed, being able to focus on one’s upcoming UFC 141 main event fight with the least amount of worry is a good thing.
And here’s an excerpt, also from MMAWeekly.com (12/22/11), on the Thai misadventure of former UFC fighter Junie Browning:
Browning was sought by police after he was involved in a bar brawl in Phuket last week, and has since sent out pleas to the U.S. Embassy seeking refuge to exit the country and get back to the United States.
According to the latest report from Phuketwan.com, Browning turned himself in to police on Wednesday, but was not arrested…
…Browning was a part of the brawl at the bar in Phuket, as well as another incident hours later at a local hospital where he and some of the other participants in the fight once again engaged in some sort of violence.
On Wednesday, Browning and his girlfriend, along with a lawyer, showed up at the Phuket police station to face authorities who had been looking for him since the incident occurred.
Don’t want to get into trouble far away from home?
Then, especially when visiting a foreign land as a famous or not-so-famous MMA fighter, keep in mind that it’s always good practice to respect and observe your host country’s laws and ethics. (Unless you sympathize with a suffering people and their just cause and decide to join a popular uprising…but let’s not get into that.)
Also, as in the case of Lesnar, be extra judicious with those laws—for all their justness or all their worth. Remember the legal principle “ignorantia legis neminem excusat,” or “ignorance of the law excuses no one,” in the language of you and me.
Or perhaps our fighters should be required to take up lessons in civility and diplomacy from our foreign affairs expert and model citizen Chael Sonnen?
The UFC will return to the MGM Grand Garden Arena Friday, December 30 for its final event of 2011. And while no UFC gold will be on the line Friday night, it’s probably a safe bet that UFC 141 will attract a huge crowd both live and in terms of pay-per…
The UFC will return to the MGM Grand Garden Arena Friday, December 30 for its final event of 2011. And while no UFC gold will be on the line Friday night, it’s probably a safe bet that UFC 141 will attract a huge crowd both live and in terms of pay-per-views.
One of the main reasons to expect a solid turnout is the fact that the fight card will mark the return of Brock Lesnar to the Octagon. Lesnar has not fought since losing the UFC heavyweight title to Cain Velasquez back in October 2010. A subsequent fight with Junior dos Santos had to be scrapped after Lesnar faced a second bout of diverticulitis. Lesnar was forced to undergo surgery, putting him out of commission for a prolonged period.
Lesnar’s UFC 141 opponent will be a newcomer to the promotion—former DREAM, K-1 Grand Prix and Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem. Overeem will enter the Octagon on an 11-fight unbeaten streak. The last time Overeem dropped an MMA bout was September 2007 when he was knocked out by Sergei Kharitonov.
The co-main event on the card will feature a lightweight battle between Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone. Cerrone is enjoying a great 2011, going 4-0 over the course of the year and earning three “Fight of the Night” bonuses in the process.
For his part, Diaz has gone 1-2 in 2011. Despite the losing record, Diaz—much like Cerrone—is a fighter that can be counted on to deliver an exciting fight, no matter the opponent. This bout is an early favorite for Fight of the Night honors.
Also appearing on the pay-per-view portion of the card will be highly ranked welterweight Jon Fitch. Fitch, coming back from shoulder surgery, will face a fellow high level wrestler in Johny Hendricks on Friday night.
In all, UFC 141 will feature 11 fights, with the five fight pay-per-view card kicking off at 10 p.m. ET.
Bleacher Report MMA will be your source for news, analysis and opinions on all the fights on the upcoming fight card.
Check back often as the fight card nears for all the UFC 141 information you need.
On December 30th, 2011 the Ultimate Fighting Championship will close the doors on an unbelievable year that consisted of some of the greatest fights of all-time.But, before those doors are shut, one of the most hyped events in MMA history will take pla…
On December 30th, 2011 the Ultimate Fighting Championship will close the doors on an unbelievable year that consisted of some of the greatest fights of all-time.
But, before those doors are shut, one of the most hyped events in MMA history will take place as Brock Lesnar will make his return to the Octagon to take on highly regarded striker, Alistair Overeem.
Overeem, who’s never fought inside the Octagon of the UFC is the favorite leading up to their main event bout in Las Vegas, Nev.
However, as we’ve seen in the past, the favorite doesn’t always come out on top nor does he necessarily deserve to have that label.
A perfect example: Alistair Overeem.
As previously mentioned, Overeem has yet to participate at the highest level of MMA often referred to as the UFC.
While Overeem has certainly earned the right to his thick resume, he’ll have to prove he can be victorious against more than your average Strikeforce opponent.
The biggest component, at least leading up to Overeem’s showdown with Lesnar, will revolve around the takedown.
Can Lesnar take down Overeem or can Overeem stuff the Lesnar takedown?
Many believe the answer of this question will ultimately lead to the winner of their clash on December 30th.
However, it’s unusual that many fans believe that the former Division I wrestler Lesnar won’t be able to place Overeem on his back.
It’s quite possible that Lesnar will be the best wrestler Overeem’s ever had to meet as he’ll certainly look to remain on his feet as long as the fight may last.
The Lesnar critiques which state “Overeem can’t be taken down by Lesnar” have been proven to be false even before their fight begins.
Why?
Because, Overeem has been taken down several times before, against less experienced wrestlers than Lesnar.
Despite a unanimous decision victory over Fabricio Werdum earlier this year, Overeem was taken to the ground.
Overeem has also been placed on his back by Antonio “Rogerio” Nogueira, Mark Hunt and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
Therefore, the question of whether or not Lesnar can take Overeem to the ground isn’t really a question at all.
It will happen.
And, when it does happen, the only question that will be present is whether or not Overeem can escape or catch Lesnar as did Frank Mir at UFC 81.
If Overeem can’t escape, he’ll endure vicious elbows, body shots and power punches from Lesnar, ultimately resulting in an Overeem defeat in his Octagon debut.
For additional information, follow Garrett Derr onTwitter.
According to abs-cbnNEWS.com, Alistair Overeem is heading into UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) 141 with the sole intention of inflicting maximum pain on Brock Lesnar—the one man standing in his path to the Holy Grail that is the coveted UFC heavyweight title.
The final