- Joined
- May 27, 2012
- Messages
- 5,040
- Reaction score
- 0
he took spinning heel kick to the jaw in pride and came back and won
Overeem vs. NSAC
You are winning.
From what I understand, he was being handled by Hunt until the submission.
From what I understand, he was being handled by Hunt until the submission.
I have to agree. Overeem and Brock are both quintessential bullies. Can dish it out, but do not deal well when the aggression is returned.
I don't think Vitor necessarily suffers from "bully syndrome." His mental blocks are just a mystery, and he was so close with that armbar on Jones.
Hold on there, speedy. Lesnar at least has a record of fighting against adversity.
Yeah, I never liked Lesnar, but he showed heart against Carwin. Overeem's never done anything like that in his career.
Can't think of any right off the top of my head. Overeem wins when he is a hammer, but crumbles when he is the nail.
The relative 'success' in the heavyweight division (and I emphasize relative because he's only beaten Lesnar and squeaked by heartless Werdum) compared to his 205lb run is because physically not many people can hammer Overeem. He's still the same fighter that fought Shogun, Liddell, Arona and Kharitonov and I won't be surprised if he crumbles to Velasquez's pace and relentlessness.
If anyone can make Overeem look like he did in the fights where he seemingly crumbled I do believe that Cain Velasquez can do it but I don't believe that Overeem lacks heart nor did he ever. Fighters, even great fighters can lose. In most of Overeem's losses the fights were competitive and he got beat by quality opponents many of whom have the power to knock out anyone their size. I also think Overeem's stamina problems were mainly caused by being in the wrong weight class.
He was too big naturally for 205 and the weight cut meant he didn't have a great gas tank. At Heavyweight he doesn't have to worry about cutting much weight if any and his strength and size made him a powerhouse. So now he can demolish most fighters before they get a chance to push him in to later rounds. He can still gas because of all of that muscle but if you can't deal with the physicality of Overeem early on you're going to lose.
I think Velasquez is going to have greater difficulty with fighting Overeem with the strategy he used against Dos Santos because Overeem is more versatile. If you pressure him you're putting yourself in position to get clinched. He's not easy to take to the ground. One concern I have as an Overeem fan is that Cain did a great job of mixing up his standup and wrestling. He kept dropping levels so Junior didn't know if he was going to go for a takedown or if he was going to pop back up and punch him in the face. Overeem had that problem with Werdum. He was too worried about the takedown and it allowed Werdum to get in more punches than usual.
Overeem has to work on his striking defense and takedown defense a lot for Velasquez.
But on the flip side if Cain can't get Overeem to the ground and keep him on the ground he can get knocked out. Look at what happened in the first Dos Santos fight and even the Kongo fight where he was rocked several times. Overeem could put Cain's lights out with one good shot. Let's also not forget Overeem's ground game. He hasn't been on his back alot recently. The last time we saw him he submitted Hunt within seconds of being on his back. If Overeem does get taken to the ground by Cain but isn't hurt he might attempt a submission.
This is a good fight because both fighters are so versatile and so lethal with each of their fighting styles. It's all about who has the ability to execute their gameplan.