It's official! Finally, a fight that fans have been calling for since the inception of Strikeforce by Zuffa LLC (the UFC's parent company). Brock Lesnar will return to the octagon on December 30th, to face current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion and K1 Champion, Alistair Overeem. The announcement came in the form of a tweet from UFC President Dana White who simply stated, "Brock Lesnar vs Alistair Overeem, Friday, Dec. 30th in Las Vegas." It will take place in the MGM Grand, a common stomping ground for the UFC.
This fight will have many storylines to follow. First and foremost there is Brock Lesnar. The once WWE standout turned MMA fighter, captured the eyes of a national audience when he dominated legend Randy Couture in route to winning the UFC Heavyweight Championship in only his 4th fight as a professional which is absolutely unheard of. After that Lesnar went on to dominate a rematch with Frank Mir and showed a tremendous amount of heart in a fight with Shane Carwin where Lesnar was just coming off of a serious illness, diverticulitus, and was hurt bad early in the fight, but rallied to win via arm triangle choke in the 2nd round. In Lesnar's latest fight against Cain Velasquez he dropped the belt via TKO in the 1st round and it was the first time he was tko'd in his career.
After losing the belt Lesnar suffered another bout of diverticulitus and this time it was thought to be career ending. Luckily, the surgery went well and Brock Lesnar looks to get back into fighting shape for the showdown against Overeem. The question now for Lesnar is what kind of shape will he be in? By the time he fights it will have been 14 months since he last fought and no matter what anyone says, train all you want, but there is nothing like getting in the octagon and actually getting into 'fighting shape'.
The other story line is regarding Alistair Overeem and the fact that the best heavyweight in the world not in the UFC is finally in the UFC and is getting a high profile fight. Overeem is coming from Strikeforce which was a rival promotion to the UFC, until it was purchased by Zuffa LLC in March. Since then statements have been made by UFC President Dana White stating that it would be "business as usual" for Strikeforce and the UFC however we are not that naive. It is just a matter of time before the UFC swallows the Strikeforce talent pool and has a monopoly on MMA, which is great for the fans. With that said, this can in a sense be seen as a high profile UFC heavyweight facing a high profile non UFC heavyweight. The questions will be answered in December if fighters outside of the UFC could hang with the best in the world. To me it's a silly question to ask because fighters like Overeem, Fedor, Werdum, Barnett, are all elite level fighters that do not fight under the UFC banner.
Lastly, the fight itself. How will it go down? Lesnar a NCAA national championship wrestler facing a K1 champion kickboxer in Overeem. Styles makes fights and these styles could not be more of a contrast. Lesnar will look to control Overeem using the clinch and the cage and try to get the fight to the ground. There Lesnar will use his body control and strength to hold Overeem down and do damage from inside the guard or side control. Overeem will look to keep the fight standing. His striking compared to the rest of the heavyweight division in the UFC (with the possible exception of Junior Dos Santos) is second to none. Overeem is an elite kickboxer with a ton of power in his punches, kicks, elbows and especially his knees which have been dubbed uberknee's. If Overeem can keep this fight standing he will score the TKO victory, if Lesnar can take this fight to the ground he can ground and pound Overeem either into a TKO or a decisive decision win. This being a 5 round fight, cardio could play a factor, however I consider cardio a wash with the long layoff and health issues Lesnar is dealing with, otherwise I'd give that edge to Lesnar.
December 30th is going to be a clash of 2 gigantic heavyweights, both in size and in stature in the sport. It will be a monumental fight and one that fans have been salivating and wanting for a long time. I personally can't wait and can already feel the tension building. No question this will be an epic, can't miss affair.
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