PEDs aside - How do you explain Overeem's ups, downs and his resurgence

[SubmarinerX]

He started off great, was touted as a destroyer of worlds when he came to the UFC, and demolished Brock Lesnar.

After that he went on a losing streak. After Bigfoot I thought "he got overconfident", after Browne "he gassed himself out, low fight iq", then he beat Mir in less than impressive fashion and didn't look like a worldbeater at all, not even in winning. The lowpoint of his career came when Rothwell knocked him out in the first round and danced over his lifeless body.

After that I thought he would get cut. I also thought he might had never been that good and that the UFC had to feel sorry for paying him so much when he didn't deliver at all. He won a few against subpar competition and when they announced the fight against JDS I thought "Rest in Uberpeace". But then - all of a sudden - the most suspect chin at HW knocked out the hardest hitter in the UFC. He actually went on a winning streak and fought for the title. And although he got knocked out he doesn't seem to be too far away from another title shot. And if he claims UFC gold he has a case for (at least top 3) HW GOAT.

How do you explain his late resurgence (I guess he is one of the most tested athletes now) and his success after such a long career and huge mileage and after had got knocked out and down to gatekeeper level essentially? Has Reem really improved this much? How do you improve so much so late in your career? Or was he just unlucky?

Honestly, I find his story most inspiring. Who would have thought that he could become a top guy after he had just lost to Rothwell, Browne and Bigfoot.

 

[Turkleton]

is normal

 

[Wariowokecancel]

Joins Jackson Winklejon.

 

[FrontNakedChoke]

Extremely skilled and dangerous fighter with a weak chin and questionable mindset.

 

[Maaj19]

When he doesn't piss about he has good fight iq, combined with Jackson Wink training and his striking ability

 

[Supatune]

I tend to believe that 99% of the fighters were juicing pre Usada and we're seeing the proof especially in the HW division with fighters having depleted gas tanks, suspect body transformations and them popping left and right, Overeem always has had a better skillset than 99% of fighters in MMA, now it's a level playing field he's where he should be, around the top of the division. Which is where he was as Ubereem too (when it was also a level playing field and he was juiced to the gills like most of the others). At LHW he had a shitty gas tank and was young and fighting the best in the world, still did pretty well against some killers.

Even when he was juicing as Ubereem he was more dedicated than everyone else - plenty of people have popped like Barnett, Rothwell, JDS, etc

none of them looked like he did as Ubereem, he puts 110% into everything he does

 

[tenniswhiz]

Even if he gets the UFC belt, I wouldn't put him Top 5 HW of all time.
His record is incredibly spotty.

 

[Supatune]

Joins Jackson Winklejon.

I do think him training there has had a positive impact but after watching The Reem documentary etc I think people overestimate how involved Jackson Wink are involved in his camps. He's still surrounding himself with a hell of a lot of his own guys like he has throughout his career. It's telling that Jackson Wink haven't cornered him that often since he moved there. I think he mostly uses the facilities.

 

[Rea_ctor]

He took loads of gear and bullied his way to victory until he failed a test and had to come off, so his body was shot and he still tried fighting the same way but didn't quite have the power he once had, and his cardio wasn't there so he would gas and lose, his body slowly adjusted and he changed his routine and fighting style.

 

[PalmStrike]

2003 ^^^^





2011^^^

 

[thobra]

1. He is a HW, and everyone can be KOd at HW. It is different than the other weightclasses.
2. We have to talk about peds.. With the random tests, fighters need to be very careful with the micro dosing and maybe avoiding some substances. If someone else are caught, using stuff that is supposed to be hard to detect, other fighters might be panicking, and go cold turkey, and that might affect their performance.

 

[DannyNL]

Overeem has been up and down his whole career. He had a great couple of years where he had a great winning streak (but you have to look at his competition level). He's never had any real consistency.

 

[MongoFett]

Well I believe Merlin from the animated 1963 Disney classic "The sword in the stone" put it best. It went something like this.

"
Left and right
Like day and night
That's what makes the world go round
In and out
Thin and stout
That's what makes the world go round

For every up there is a down
For every square there is a round
For every high there is a low
For every to there is a fro

To and fro
Stop and go
That's what makes the world go round

You must set your sights upon the heights
Don't be a mediocrity
Don't just wait and trust to fate
And say, that's how it's meant to be
It's up to you how far you go
If you don't try you'll never know
And so my lad as I've explained
Nothing ventured, nothing gained

You see my boy it's nature's way
Upon the weak the strong ones prey
In human life it's also true
The strong will try to conquer you
And that is what you must expect
Unless you use your intellect
Brains and brawn, weak and strong
That's what makes the world go round"

 

[UWPguy]

Besides PEDs, Overeem is a bully, plain and simple. He wins when people can't stand up to his pressure and often loses when they can. For a long time he looked invincible because he was fighting subpar competition, would go in and destroy them and he got it in his head that he was superman. Look at his run from late 2007 to 2011, other than Werdum who was a moron in that fight and arguably won anyway, Overeem was fighting guys who were way past their prime.

When he fought Bigfoot he got overconfident and was fighting like a moron and got himself knocked out. That's when the doubt came creeping back in for him and he lost a few more in the coming years.

Even with all his flaws he is still very skilled and if he is focused he can beat anyone on any given night so that's why we've seen a resurgence from him.

 

[campbecc]

He has very good offense with questionable defense and a bad chin and weak cardio. So he can beat anyone but he also can lose to any top fighter. He's not going to be consistent against top fighters.

 

[hagestad]

As some mentioned everyone can get KO'd in HW. Also no one seems to care that he was owning BigFoot And Browne before fucking up /gassing a bit and getting caught.
Getting caught might have something to do with his chin.Unless you are Maia you are going to get hit. And gues what at HW they hit hard.

 

[snootylol]

This is why i laugh when people say steroids only benefit u physically...On roids Overeem would go forward constantly cover up and fuck you up.. not scared of anything

Post roids the guy is extremely timid and literally runs in some fights..

His comeback off roids? well HW skill wise is not that developed and he is with Jacksons who have him fight safer and try protect his chin..

He is no different imo though.. put him in deep waters and he still sinks.. his skillset will only get him so far

 

[FaTaL FaTaL]

His resurgence is due to the weak hw div

 

[Congo66]

Overeem has no chin that explains it all.
It's not a new thing, it's not a HW thing, he was getting ko'd at LHW too.
He's only gone to points 8 times in 59 fights, he'll either ko or sub his opponents of if he gets caught he loses by ko.

 

[whougonnacall]

Joins Jackson Winklejon.

This
Talented but arrogant guy joins jacksons.....hes jones but bigger