UFC 185 emanates from the American Airlines Center in Dallas Saturday and on the main card a pair of heavyweights hope to come up big in Texas.
Alistair Overeem looks for his first two-fight win streak in the UFC as he battles The Ultimate Fighter 10 champion Roy Nelson. For both fighters it’s an opportunity to prove their relevancy in the heavyweight division.
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Overeem (38-14, 1 NC) is coming off a first-round knockout victory over Stefan Struve at UFC on FOX 13 in December. The win was the 34-year-old’s third in the Octagon, pushing his overall UFC record to a lacklustre 3-3. When Overeem signed on with the UFC in 2011 there were high hopes for the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion — especially when he defeated Brock Lesnar in his promotional debut at UFC 141. But, ever since he was caught for elevated levels of testosterone in 2012 he hasn’t looked the same. After that positive test and subsequent suspension The Reem has been a sub-.500 fighter with all of his losses coming by knockout. His biggest detriment appears to be a questionable chin and stylistically this matchup with Nelson could be a nightmare.
Nelson (20-10) has lost three of his last four bouts heading into this contest. He’s coming off a second-round knockout loss to Mark Hunt back at UFC Fight Night 52 in September. It was just the second time in Nelson’s 30-fight career that he was knocked out — he was previously finished in 2008 against Andrei Arlovski at Elite XC: Heat. The 38-year-old has always been known as a durable fighter, as displayed in his losses to Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum, but it appears that father time has finally caught up to the IFL veteran. However, one thing he can always depend on is his powerful right hand, which has put a number of his opponents to sleep.
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Stylistically this is a very intriguing matchup. Overeem has plenty of advantages on paper: he’s faster, younger and possesses similar knockout power. With Nelson losing by KO in his last fight, Overeem absolutely could finish his elder counterpart. On the other hand, with this being Overeem’s last potential chance to make a run at a heavyweight title shot, we may see this fight play out similarly to The Reem’s fight with Frank Mir. In his victory over Mir, the former K-1 Grand Prix champion was less aggressive and opted to pick his shots rather than going for a quick finish. The result was what many considered a boring decision and Overeem was treated to a chorus of boos in his post-fight interview. Conversely for Nelson, there is only one way he can seemingly win this fight and that’s by knockout. If you look at Nelson’s record – other than the losses to Hunt and Arlovski – he either loses by decision or wins by quick KO. Despite his age, if Nelson can come out quickly and connect with his right hand, it will be an early night for the Dutchman.
Make no mistake about it; both of these fighters have a lot on the line in this contest. If Overeem loses his fourth UFC bout, his title aspirations would be shattered and he’d likely be relegated to super-fights until his contract runs out. It’s unlikely the UFC would release him because of the hefty viewership he could bring to a rival promotion. If Overeem can emerge victorious, though, it would situate him nicely in the UFC heavyweight title picture. While he doesn’t have the type of winning streak as his divisional peers, his marketability and name value alone might cause the UFC to put him in a marquee fight sooner rather than later.
Should Nelson lose his second straight fight, the UFC might push for his retirement from the sport, especially if he’s stopped in his second straight fight. A win would undoubtedly secure him as the division’s gatekeeper and prove that he can still compete at close to age 40. With the UFC’s heavyweight division a bit of a mess at the moment the matchup could prove pivotal.