Alistair Overeem opens "The Year of The Reem" with a dominant victory
Posted on January 1, 2012, 07:58 PM by Anton GurevichLast Friday, Alistair Overeem made another step towards completing the first ever quadruple in combat sports, after demolishing Brock Lesnar in the main event of UFC 141. Alistair Overeem needed less than three minutes to beat Brock Lesnar into retirement, sending a clear message to the reigning champion Junior “Cigano” dos Santos.
Overeem lived up to the expectations of MMA fans that were wise enough to judge his talent by skill, experience and exceptional physical attributes. The Dutchman was head and shoulders above Brock Lesnar inside the Octagon. Hungry, focused, well-rounded, and extremely confident in his abilities to leave the arena victorious.
Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem might share the physique, but “The Demolition Man” proved he has more than enough qualities that set him apart from “The Baddest Man on the Planet”. In fact, Overeem’s incredible physical strength in combination with cream of the crop striking and high-level grappling make him a somewhat improved version of Brock Lesnar.
Overeem made his UFC debut in a perfect condition, and has the potential to become the George St. Pierre and Anderson Silva of the UFC Heavyweight division.
At least in my opinion, Junior dos Santos is an underdog against Aistair Overeem. He’s around 25lbs lighter (weighed-in at 239lbs against Cain Velasquez), and has a pretty one-dimensional striking skills. JDS is one of the best boxers in MMA, but he lacks the depth Alistair Overeem has with kicks, knees and his second to none clinch.
From another point of view, dos Santos’ weight could easily become a speed advantage when he tries to stick and move against Alistair Overeem, who prefers to explode on his opponents when he smells blood.
Alistair Overeem is a fantastic addition to the UFC roster. He could provide very entertaining fights with Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir, who are most likely to square off against each other for the next #1 contender spot in the division.
One way or another, it looks like 2012 will be "The Year of The Reem".
Comments
Its hard to say the JDS's boxing will be inferior to Reems kick boxing, we have seen examples go each way where one worked better against the other and vice versa, two examples that come to mind where boxing beat kickboxing was Penn vs. Florian, and just recently Nate Diaz's boxing trumped Cerrones kick boxing, we will just have to see how this unfold when they fight.
Alistair Overeem's chin is questionable and far from being second to none. JDS will exploit and expose this.
Alistair's chin is not an issue. The last time it looked questionable was against Kharitonov in 2007. He was much smaller then. He also did get rocked in his last fight with Badr Hari but that was against BADR HARI. The chin comments are just silly. Look at this dude's neck.
I think this is a fight where size actually matters. They're both so highly skilled but Reem's size and strength may make the difference. Look for Alistair to push the pace and engage the clinch, he's not going to stand in front of JDS and trade shots.
I agree. If Alistar can find success in the clinch with some of those vicious knees and get JDS hurt, and then come on with his superior striking; this could be another short night for the Reem.
It's a MMA fight tho
And Alistair has the better ground game.
IMO dos santos has better pure boxing skills and overeem is superior with his kickboxing. if overeem mixes it up a lot with kicks, knees and elbows he could outstrike dos santos but if they go punch for punch jds will get the win
Congrats to the Reemer.
If Overeem can clinch with JDS it could be a short fight but if he can't I think JDS speed will be to much. I don't see it as a question about kick boxing vs boxing but rather speed vs strength.
Are you joking??? Jds the underdog?? The Reem is good but who did he beat at hw??? A rusty not motivated coming from surgery Lesnar? Werdum gave Overeem a figth standing up... I see this one going pretty much as the Carwin fight...jabbing, moving, avoiding the clinch with superior speed.... Anton your aversion to Brazilian fighters make you so biased it hurts..,, get real homie.
The biggest difference for JDS fighting Overeem instead of Carwin is that against Carwin he had to worry about the takedown and boxing, since Carwin doesn't really have a kick game. He had a huge advantage in speed and precision, which let him stay in the pocket, stick and move as necessary. Against Overeem, he needs to be seriously worried about those kicks, and he'll need to be on his A-game to close the distance without eating a knee or jumping into the clinch.
Alistair is a faster, more technical Shane with more tools to beat JDS. If Junior doesn't dictate the range and speed of the fight, he'll be looking for a punchers chance to win.
Watch Overeem's K1 fights. He doens't try to engage in a technical striking match, he bullies his oppenents. He's going to walk JDS down and hit him with knees and hooks. Footwork will be key. Alistaire has the reach advantage and his striking defense is outstanding. I could see him getting clipped, but asides from that he just has more ways to win and ultimately the advantage in this fight.
who has Jds beat ?......a rusty not motivated cain velasquez coming back from surgery ....Carwin....and past his best cro cop...you defeat your point with your own logic.
how does a comment like that have twice many sharps as weaks, just shows what kind of "mma fans" this site cosists of. that stupid argument could go both ways..... who has overreem beat? a rusty overrated brock lesnar, a lackluster decision win over wurdum, some meathead name todd duffee, and the k-1 championship which is a completly different sport.
I disagree. As much as I love Overeem, in my opinion, his striking defense is far from outstanding. When fighting high ranked opponents he always gets at least wobbled. In the Werdum fight he ate countless punches and he has a very wide hand posistion which will give JDS a perfect lane to fire his deadly uppercut into. Hopefully Reem studies JDS and puts brains before Pride and realises that he needs to keep a high TIGHT guard and try to engage in the clinch as much as possible.
What about ground game? JDS or Overeem?
Because who knows, this might be the key.
More than half of Overeem's victories are by submission, and he was submitting people as a scrawny LHW through pure technique. JDS has submitted and GnPed a total of 0 people in his MMA career. I'll half to go with Overeem here.
Not only that but Overeem was the European Abu Dhabi champion.
This is a fantastic matchup that will be an all out standup war. I think JDS has slightly better striking but Overeem is so buff. I dunno it's a toss up for me. I'll take JDS but it's razor close.
Overeem vs jon jones!!!!!!!!!!
If jon "ponny boy" jones find his balls and move HW where he belongs...
Someone here touched on the fight ending up in the ground. If that is the case then I believe that JDS have the advantage so Overeem might have to think twice when going to clinch with JDS and he (Overeem) also has to be wary when throwing a kick. So if JDS can threaten Overeem with take-downs then this could end up in a boxing match which I think JDS has a slight advantage BUT if JDS can't threaten Overeem with take down and Overeem can throw knees and kicks then the advantage will definitely be with Overeem..
So you think that a guy that got caught in a sub by Shane Carwin (end of the fight saved by the bell and it was tight) will have an advantage over a guy who has won half of his fights by submission and won first at Euro Abu Dhabi, huh?
I really hope Lesnar doesnt retire. i think he should fight Mir again, is 1 and 1, need the final decision. He is only 34 years old. I understand he has had problems and may not be 100%, but I still think he has more left in him. I love watching his fights, the tension and the build up. he is a huge man with power and strength behind everything he does. Let us have one more year of lesnar. Please dont retire yet!!
Honestly, he looked kinda weak against Overeem, not explosive like Lesnar normally is at all. I think he may be pretty beat up from his disease.
K1 champion or not. JDS has more technical striking than the Reem. JDS picks his shots with speed and agility, leaving a very smal window of opportunity for counter striking. The Reem on the other hand just bullies forward, corners his opponent and then destroy them with power strikes.
Striking defense of both fighters is also very different. JDS moves and tries not to get hit. He's quite effective at it. But it doesn't mean his chin has not been tested. He ate big shots from Nelson without a whobble. He can take shots for sure, just prefers to avoid them. The Reem takes a very different approach. He moves in, absorbs shots with his strong guard and goes for the kill if in range. This is not only his strength but his weakness as well. First of all, its easier to absorb hits with boxing gloves, than mma gloves. Secondly, strong dudes can still inflict lot of damage even if the guard is up. My prediction will therefore be: JDS vs the Reem will be a war. I will be rooting for JDS, but this fight can go either way.
You don't really understand striking do you? Overeem is highly technical and picks his shots much better than JDS. He lets his opponents throw some shots and then when the opening is there he hits them with a couple of perfectly timed shots. He is a tactician.
JDS has better pure boxing. Overeem is definately the more well rounded. Overeem is my pick, but with his dodgy jaw and JDS's good hands a KO for JDS would be no surprise.
Don't get me wrong, the Reem is a monster and I think we will see him putting hurtings on many many guys.
Lets not get too carried away though, how good was the Lesnar he just beat coming off major surgery? Would a Cro cop kick have done the same to Lesnar's gut area?
The Reem had a great gameplan but we'll never know what Brocks mindset was. It's possible other heavyweights would have done the same.
No one can deny the Reem hasn't fought the best out there in MMA recently, and no one can deny he didn't look great against Werdum.
JDS has some serious stand up and put away Werdum.
I think this one could go either way and I can't wait to see what happens.
I'm just not jumping on the undeafetable reem bandwagon just yet...
...although it could happen.
JDS has great boxing--and essential to that skillset is footwork.
JDS is light on his feet for a HW, and will circle and move in and out, avoiding the clinch.
Overeem will have a tough time finding and cutting off JDS.
In the HW division, they hit so hard--all either fighter needs is one good shot to land--and it's game over. Alister should avoid chasing the faster, lighter JDS, but focus on counterstriking when he moves in--and trying to get the clinch. Overeem could also fake a takedown, and use it to bullrush JDS against the cage for clinch and knee work.
This fight could go either way.
Sorry--spelling should be Alistair
alister has good bbj, and in the clinch his size and strength will overpower JDS.. but the question is.. can he get inside.
Reems K1 striking > JDS boxing.
When an elite kickboxer and an elite boxer face down in a striking match, it's usually pretty hard for the boxer to come out on top. JDS should be the underdog here, Alistair Overeem is the next heavyweight champion of the UFC.
This is a styles matchup that just doesn't favour the current champ. I really don't think that Overeem will run off a tally of defenses like Silva or GSP, or even like Jones is on his way to doing, he's far more beatable than those three but as far as this next fight goes, it's Reem's to lose.
Strange, during the Cerrone Diaz fight I could have sworn I heard Goldie and Joe Rogan say that an elite boxer will come out on top everytime against an elite kickboxer.
If they did they were wrong. If someone understands defending against kicks and the clinch then they are a kickboxer regardless of whether or not the actually kick. In the Cerone fight, Donald didn't throw enough kicks. He was off of his game. Rogan definitely said he should do more kicking. If you take an elite Boxer, I will beat him up. I am an average kick boxer and when I spar with boxers I just bully them.
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