Alistair Overeen vs. Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva | UFC 156
More heavyweight nostalgia. We're going back to 2013.
By 2013, the UFC had bought, shuddered, and subsumed Strikeforce, including all of its fighters. While I feel secure saying that Nick Diaz was perhaps the most anticipated newly acquired fighter for MMA fans, I think Alistair Overeem was a very close second. Overeem was on the run of his life and one of the craziest runs in combat sports. He was the former Strikeforce and Dream heavyweight champion, having rattled off 11 straight fights without a loss (had one no contest against Cro Cop in there). But what had really cemented Overeem (and his new bodybuilder physique) as a legend of combat sports was his improbable run through the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix, the highest of high grounds in kickboxing. Overeem, primarily an MMA fighter up to that point, fights his way through a crowded field in 2011, beating legends like Tyrone Spong, Gokhan Saki, and Peter Aerts en route to winning the tournament. Then he came into the UFC and sent Brock Lesnar back to professional wrestling when he crushed him inside a round. He was the rightful #1 contender and was in line for a title fight. Unfortunately for him, the NSAC would have something to say about it. Reem, originally scheduled to face JDS for the UFC HW title in 2012, pisses hot on the PED test (14:1 T/E ratio, baby) and gets the 9 month ban. When he comes back, the heavyweight title picture has moved on a bit so he's forced to take a fight with a struggling Bigfoot Silva.
Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva was a terrifying man. 6'4 but walking around at 300lbs while still looking in shape, he was pretty intimidating. One of the few guys who I think was probably actually hurt by cutting weight to 265lbs. And one of the first men to truly just go out there and dominate Fedor Emelianenko. Beat him from the opening bell til the ref stopped the fight. But unfortunately for him, by this point in 2013 he was struggling to keep up with the faster fighters at heavyweight. He was upset by a fast-rising prospect in Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier and served as Cain Velasquez's rebound fight after he lost the title.
Two finish losses in a row like that had really hurt Bigfoot's stock and this fight with Overeem was seen as a way to slide Reem back into the title picture. But this is heavyweight and rarely should thing ever be taken for granted.
