UFC 141 was a prime example of the strength and guts of the MMA’s toughest fighters. Alistair Overeem stepped into the octagon with his vicious striking skills and used them to limit Brock Lesnar’s comeback to a pitiful 146 seconds.
Lesnars inability – to take Overeem to the ground and away from his vicious stand-up game probably cost him the fight. Lesnar was devastated by a series of punches, knees and a final and devastating hit to the liver.
When the ex-champ fell like a stack of bricks – Overeem ferociously attacked pummeling him with his fists; Lesnar lay helpless on the mat seemingly already to be a broken man, causing the fight to be called a technical knockout. It was an anticlimactic and impotent end to Lesnar’s so called come back, and a typical end to his up-and-down career. He became heavyweight champion only to be crippled for over a year with diverticulitis.
Lesnar humiliated and broken, quickly announced after losing the fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Friday night that his rocky career was over.
“I’ve had a couple difficult years with my disease,” Lesnar said. “And I’m going to officially say tonight is the last time you’ll see me in the Octagon.” So it would seem for the time being anyway that Brock Lesnar is officially retired. The reason he gave for his untimely retirement was that he promised his wife and kids that if he won the fight; he would make one last attempt at a title fight, but if he lost then this would be his last fight.
And just like that, this loss, sends Lesnar packing and he fades from the UFC’ history books.
“When a guy decides he wants to retire, that’s his thing man,” Dana White, the president of the UFC, said afterward. “This is the real deal. You don’t half-ass this stuff. When you know it’s over, it’s over.”
One man’s loss is another’s gain and the man who ushered Lesnar out of the UFC for good is now going to get his own UFC heavyweight championship shot against Junior dos Santos.”I just wanted to show the world that I was ready and coming,” Overeem said, from inside the Octagon.
People questioned whether Overeem’s dynamic and powerful striking ability could take Lesnar out before he could take him to the mat. There was talk criticizing Overeem, saying that he had never faced heavyweights with Lesnar’s abilities, and that if he ever did he would be out of his league.
Lesnar only tried to take Overeem to the ground once, not utilizing his one true advantage, thus causing him to fall victim to Overeem’s devastating strikes. Overeem’s powerful attacks early on and devastating knee shots seemed to stun Lesnar and keep him at bay.
Usually, Brock is a guy who comes straight at you, but he wasn’t doing that, he said. Overeem knew the knees bothered him. Overeem’s stand-up game had been too much for Lesnar to handle. And with that another MMA great bites the dust, taken out by an up-and-comer.
“The funny thing was I predicted it the evening before to my fiance,” Overeem said. “I said, ‘First, I’m going to do this, then I’m going to do that, then I’m going to finish it with a liver kick.’ I don’t know if it’s luck or if it’s strategy, but it turned out that way and I’m happy it did.”
Many left the fight feeling unsatisfied by how quickly the match ended after so much build up, this only underscores the unpredictability of the sport.
