Issue 115

June 2014

The history of mixed martial arts retold through the pages of the FO archives. June 2014: the rise and unlikely fall from grace of ex heavyweight king Alistair Overeem.

Influence comes with a 10-fight undefeated run and heavyweight titles in three promotions across two fighting disciplines. And in 2011 Alistair Overeem, the hottest property in the sport, had a great deal of influence. Now, very little remains.

When he had that sway, thanks to Strikeforce and Dream gold in MMA and being K-1 grand prix champ in kickboxing, he was certainly using it. Speaking to Fighters Only in this month three years ago, the striker was happy to speculate with great confidence about who he should fight and when.

Then booked to fight in the Strikeforce tournament, Overeem told us: “I’ll win the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix and I believe the winner will be set to take on the UFC’s heavyweight champion… If I had to fight Cain (Velasquez) it’d be a very interesting matchup. I’d definitely be the aggressor and I’d be the one coming at him and hitting him harder.”

Of course, Overeem never won the Strikeforce tourney. He pulled out with a suspicious injury that July, after beating Fabricio Werdum in the quarter-finals. Later that month he was cut from the company due to a mysterious issue over his gym’s payment system. A while later he was welcomed onto the UFC’s roster and immediately promoted as the next big thing.

Appropriately, his first fight would be on the UFC’s high-profile, end-of-year card against the company’s marquee name: Brock Lesnar. Even if in his prior conversation with FO he claimed he wouldn’t be interested in a scrap with the ex pro wrestler.

“I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I think it would be an easy fight,” he said. “I want a challenge. I want hard fights.”

The six-foot-five 260lb Dutchman was right; it was easy. He TKO’d Lesnar in two minutes and 26 seconds, earning a shot at the UFC heavyweight strap. He had fame, respect and glory. The bout represented Overeem at his peak. With a victory over champion Junior Dos Santos in May 2012, he could become the biggest star in global combat sports.

Except a failed drugs screening meant he didn’t. Randomly tested a few months before the bout, Overeem was found to have over twice the permissible amount of testosterone in his system. His chance to become fighting’s most famous name was gone.

Kept out of the ring for a minimum of nine months as punishment, the kickboxer’s February 2013 comeback bout against Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva was predicted to set him up for another UFC title run. A confident Alistair, by now unbeaten in nearly five years, was dismissive of Silva’s skills, saying he was “just going to be a number on my list.”

Again he was correct – for two rounds. In the third, taunting Silva with his hands at his side, Overeem was knocked out by his underdog opponent’s strikes. ‘The Demolition Man,’ the once indestructible winner of kickboxing’s greatest prize, the K-1 grand prix, had been demolished himself.

But it didn’t only happen once. Six months later it was Travis Browne in similar fashion. Under ‘The Reem’s hammer in the early going, Browne’s front kick led to another knockout defeat.

Even when the former Pride light heavyweight did bounce back with a win against Frank Mir in February, a lack of killer instinct in a methodical three-round decision failed to convince fans or UFC bosses the Overeem of 2014 was the same as the one that promised to be so ferociously dominant in 2011.

Between his back-to-back knockout losses and occasional bouts of apparently unfounded arrogance, Overeem’s career and his popularity with fans are these days at a low. And via a route no one predicted.

He did say he wanted hard fights.

NOSTRADAMMAUS: CRUZ IN CONTROL

We previewed three fights in the issue three years ago: Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber, Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader and Pat Barry vs. Cheick Kongo. We didn’t correctly predict two of the most unpredictable outcomes in recent years (Ortiz’s surprise guillotine, and Kongo’s comeback KO), but we did foretell Cruz’s decision win. “It’s speed and movement that should make the difference in a fight very likely to go the distance with Cruz emerging victorious.”

ELSEWHERE IN THE JUNE 2011 ISSUE

SONNEN VS. SEAGAL

We interviewed Chael Sonnen for our cover not long after his perennial foe, Anderson Silva, had KO’d Vitor Belfort with a highlight-reel front kick, but a little while before ‘90s action movie star Steven Seagal had really tried to take credit for the attack and eventually become part of Silva’s entourage.

Which would explain why Sonnen, then in full anti-Anderson mode just over six months removed from nearly beating the Brazilian in 2010, admitted the following. “(Growing up) I was into Chuck Norris and into Steven Seagal.” Who’d have thought it?

BE FIRST

Our old ‘Fighting Talk’ page at the front of the magazine was an interview meant to introduce you to tomorrow’s fighting talent. And we did that – a lot. Three years ago we used the page to make you aware of Felice Herrig. Now she’s about to enter the Ultimate Fighter 20 house. Another job done.

‘COLE’ HARD CASH

As you may have already read in this issue, UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman was recently unsuccessful in selling his Pride 2000 open weight grand prix trophy and novelty-sized check for $24.5k. It’s the most recent of several occasions where ‘The Hammer’ has tried to raise a little extra cash via memorabilia. Back in 2011 we told you he was selling his gloves from that same event for $40,000. There was A better ending then though. A little while after our issue hit the shelves someone ponied up the dough.