mma / Columns

Finally: Dos Santos vs. Overeem

August 28, 2015 | Posted by Dan Plunkett

Four years ago, UFC devised mini heavyweight tournament of sorts. On one side of the bracket was Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight championship, which would set ratings records on Fox that have still yet to be approached. On the other was Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem, an odd Friday UFC pay-per-view offering (to avoid the chaos of New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas) that promised an explosion when the herculean heavyweights clashed.

Both matchups could be simply broken down to wrestler vs. striker. Velasquez would need to get to the floor to avoid the power of dos Santos. Lesnar would be toast if he stood against the reigning K-1 World Grand Prix champion. Over the course of the tournament, those sentiments proved correct. Velasquez, immobilized by a knee injury he had attempted to keep quiet when his doughy appearance at weigh-ins drew concern, lasted all of 64 seconds before a dos Santos punch put him away. Lesnar, having been robbed of his athletic prime by illness, looked awkward and uncomfortable in the 146 seconds he lasted before falling to a liver kick. Dos Santos vs. Overeem, the highly anticipated battle of the division’s best strikers, was on.

It took Alistair Overeem twelve years to get to earn a title shot in a major promotion. He came to international prominence on Pride’s grand stage, where he became a respected and dangerous competitor, but also one that usually lost against top competition and had a tendency to tire quickly. In 2007, he moved to heavyweight, and found success almost instantly, capturing the Strikeforce heavyweight title before that promotion rose to national prominence. The next year, Overeem blew up – in more ways than one. He destroyed three of his four opponents in MMA – a match he was winning handily against Mirko Cro Cop was called a no contest after a brutal low blow – and capped the year by knocking out K-1 bad boy Badr Hari in a kickboxing bout. His body, apparently feeding on success, grew from 224 pounds for his Strikeforce match to a hulking 253 pounds of muscle by the end of 2008.

By the time Overeem faced Lesnar at the close of 2011, he had convincingly – and violently – ran through eleven heavyweights in MMA. At the same time, he rose to the top of K-1, besting three men in one night to take home the World Grand Prix crown. There was a real question was to whether or not Overeem was the best heavyweight mixed martial artist in the world. His chance to prove it was to be against the man considered to be the UFC’s best heavyweight striker until Overeem signed on.

From his first fight in the UFC, a shocking one-punch knockout victory over top contender Fabricio Werdum, Junior dos Santos had been completely dominant. He annihilated a young Stefan Struve, took out Mirko Cro Cop, and flattened both Gilbert Yves and Gabriel Gonzaga. The step up in competition level that followed drew no knockouts, but the same dominance in wins against Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin. His title win against Cain Velasquez didn’t answer many questions – both came in injured and fast knockouts usually say little more than “that guy hits hard” – but it advanced his reputation as potentially heavyweight’s most dangerous striker.

Just as promotion for the fight got underway, everything fell apart. At a press conference two months before the event, the Nevada Athletic Commission surprised the fighters with a random drug test. Overeem failed with a 14:1 T/E ratio, well above the 6:1 threshold Nevada used as a line between normal and abnormal results. He was suspended, and dos Santos knocked out Frank Mir in his first title match instead. By the time Overeem returned in early 2013, Velasquez had routed dos Santos in a rematch, and shortly thereafter Overeem tasted defeat on his own. In his return match, Antonio Silva stunned Overeem with a third round knockout.

Since the bout fell apart the two have been inextricably linked. They have traded barbs, called each other out, and the fight always seemed to be on the horizon. Finally, on Tuesday, the UFC announced Junior dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem for December’s Fox card.

It does not have the same appeal as the match did three years ago. Overeem has suffered three knockout losses in six fights since defeating Brock Lesnar, and two brutal, prolonged losses to Cain Velasquez have pushed dos Santos back a step. However, intrigue in the fight remains. It has become a rivalry, and if nothing else, the pair should still combine for an uncommonly violent fight. Both have retained their power through the years, but its each fighter’s ability to withstand that power that separates them. Dos Santos can withstand an uncomfortable amount of punishment, while Overeem’s chin has betrayed him a number of times.

Both have fallen from their 2012 perches, but the winner will rise to a strong spot in the title mix – one more shot at glory.

Dan Plunkett has covered MMA for 411Mania since 2008. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @Dan_Plunkett.