FIGHT TIME
Saturday, July 8th
7:00 PM PST
10:00 PM EST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Two Legendary Heavyweights Meet in the Cage Once More to Close Out their Trilogy!
Alistair 'The Reem' Overeem:
Formerly 'The Demolition Man', Alistair is one of the most decorated and ferocious strikers the UFC has ever seen. A K-1 champion whom fought only the best kickboxers of all time (in Semmy Schilt, Gokhan Saki and countless others), and never abandoned his fearless striking style in pure 'mma' combat. A few losses to mid-level heavyweights like Ben Rothwell and Antonio SIilva held Alistair back from the title shot for a few years, not until somewhat recently has Alistair evolved his defense and overall game. He is fighting the most intelligently he ever has, and although he is a masterful and feared striker, his grappling is an equally dangerous threat.
Overeem's defensive jiu-jitsu and grappling are top notch, he was skilled enough to hang with Werdum in their rematch after previously being submitted by kimura (somewhat easily). This legendary kickboxer is looking to reclaim another title shot, and with recent wins over Mark Hunt and Andrei Arlovski, it seems he wants another legend's head!
Fabricio 'Vai Cavallo' Werdum:
'Go Horse' is the former UFC champion, and the greatest jiu-jitsu black belt to ever grace the heavyweight division. He is an onslaught of Muay Thai elbows and piercing knees on the feet. His grappling is masterful, so much so that he is never challenged by his opponents on the ground. Werdum has been claimed by many to be the greatest heavyweight martial artist of all time; being the first man to finish Fedor and Cain Velasquez are accolades no man can dispute in speaking of greatness.
Werdum has shown signs of age, and has always been weak to accurate and powerful punchers. He has always taken a shot well, but to the top boxers in the division (like Junior Dos Santos and Stipe Miocic), Werdum always seems to fall short. The most refined and polished aspect to the black belt's game is his guard, on the floor he will comfortably remain on his back as he is most dangerous from the position. As this is a rubber match, Werdum will have to conceal his motives and make this an absolute dogfight!
Breakdown and Prediction:
The rule of thirds, it seems to apply to the universe in many instances. What can we take from two men engaging in battle a third time, can we evaluate the evolution of previous bouts, or do we simply look to their last fight? The mentality of two men changes when forced to destroy each other, that mind set naturally changes again when forced to match and match again....
Werdum and Overeem have been finished numerous times in their career, both being susceptible to the more hard hitting heavyweights they have encountered. Both men competing in this matchup aren't the most lethal of punchers, but Overeem has fearsome kicks as Werdum has wicked knees. Let us look at their previous affair, as the first bout ended much too early to gauge anything really. It was a stalemate, for three rounds Alistair was forced to take Werdum down and wear him out with top pressure. Werdum seemed to take Overeem's shots well and was never truly phased by any strikes delivered. Werdum landed nothing of significance either, the whole plot line was baiting the other man out of their wheel house.
The first bout was already 11 years ago with an inexperienced Overeem being run over by a jiu-jitsu juggernaut, with the rematch 6 years behind as well, expect a completely different outcome to this bout. Both Overeem and Werdum are desperate for another shot at the champion, neither are getting younger and time is running out. This will be an intense bout of desperation between two old foes, I see two distinct and opposite game-plans coming to fruition with the more durable man coming out with the victory.
Prediction: Fabricio Werdum TKO Round 3
Presenter: @brandonk
Editor & GFX: @cryptoiskey
