Alistair Overeem: History or Mystery? Part 2

For part one, click here.

Alistair Overeem had finally made his way to the UFC, where he could become the best fighter in the world. He was given a title eliminator fight in his debut in the biggest organization in the sport, and was matched up against fellow colossus, Brock Lesnar. Overeem obliterated Lesnar, silencing many of his critics, but gaining new ones after running away from his post-fight drug test.

The steroid allegations started up again, but nevertheless, Overeem was awarded his title shot against then champion, Junior Dos Santos. Fan’s mouths started to water at the thought of these two elite strikers fighting in the Octagon. I was not one of these people, and I firmly believed Junior Dos Santos to knock Overeem out cold in the first round.

As the fight date came close to fruition, the worst-case scenario panned out in front of Dana White’s eyes. Overeem failed a drug test, having an almost ridiculous 14:1 T/E ratio. Needless to say, the title fight was called off, and Frank Mir was sent in as a replacement. Overeem desperately scrambled to keep his name intact, claiming a doctor almost force-fed him testosterone. If you are a three-time world champion, you know exactly what is going in to your body, and rightly so, the commission suspended Overeem.

Overeem was forgiven by Dana White, and eventually the commission, and was slated to face Antonio Silva at UFC 156. Being drug tested throughout his whole fight camp, Overeem did not look like his normal Goliath self at the weigh in, and had noticeably lost a large amount of muscle mass. To make things worse, Overeem was brutally knocked out by Antonio Silva in a shocking fashion, creating chaos throughout the MMA community. Overeem was slated as ‘over-rated’ and a ‘cheat’, whose whole career came in to question, with his past opponents querying there losses to Overeem.

Overeem now has the weight of the world on his shoulders, going in to his fight against Travis Browne at UFC on Fox Sports 1. Browne himself is a perennial top-10 heavyweight, who is athletic and powerful enough to scare any heavyweight. Browne’s lone loss comes from the very same Antonio Silva who knocked Overeem out.

It’s going to be incredibly exciting to see what kind of form Overeem approaches this fight in. In my opinion, Overeem will not become the heavyweight champion as long as Junior Dos Santos is around. I think Overeem has one large technical flaw in his striking defense that you can’t get away with in the heavyweight division. He has a ‘kickboxing-centric’ style of fighting which means he covers up and protects himself against shots, instead of moving away from them. That may work in kickboxing and boxing, but in MMA, with small gloves, it will get you hurt in no time. His fight against Chuck Liddell is a perfect example of this defensive flaw, as even though Overeem was covering up, Chuck’s hand landed right through his defense, almost putting him to sleep straight away. The uppercuts that Silva threw are also a punch that will get through Overeem’s guard. Which current heavyweight is good at throwing uppercuts and overhand rights? Yes, that’s right, Junior Dos Santos.

At the end of the day, Overeem puts ‘butts in seats’, makes fights excitingly and has the skill to beat many heavyweights. Unfortunately, no matter how gifted he may be, he will forever be tied to his demons, and will never be considered as the greatest heavyweight of all time despite his numerous titles.

Marcus Pordoy is an MMA writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @MMAnalysisRoom, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.