With less than two months left until the highly anticipated UFC 146, slotted to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 26, 2012, heavyweight challenger Alistair Overeem, continues to prepare for the fight of his career. Also known as “The Demolition Man,” or simply by “Reem,” the Dutch national has earned his spot in UFC 146 after a long and varied professional fighting career. Overeem lends his style of Mixed Martial Arts to his kickboxing career, in which he has a record of 10-4 and has fared quite well in the K-1 World Grand Prix Finals of 2009 and 2010, placing in third and winning the championship respectively.
Overeem's thirteen-year professional MMA career provides him with the experience necessary to take on the current number one ranked fighter in the UFC, Junior dos Santos. The 6 ft 5 in, 263 lb Overeem, who is currently ranked between number two and number three by various media outlets, has an MMA record of 36-11-1, which opposes the 6 ft 4in 240 lb dos Santos’ MMA record of 14-1-0.
Alistair Overeem earned his chance to face Junior dos Santos in MMA 146 by defeating Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 on December 30, 2011. In what would turn out to be his final mixed martial arts fight, Lesnar was defeated in the first round when a kick by Overeem connected with Lesnar’s liver. After he was taken to the mat by the kick, Lesnar suffered a series of punches that would ultimately cause the referee to stop the fight and award Overeem with a technical knockout. This victory gave Overeem the opportunity to challenge Junior dos Santos for the title as UFC Heavyweight Campion. In anticipation for the fight, Overeem, who will celebrate his 32nd birthday nine days before MMA 146, has signed with Authentic Sports Management and moved to Boca Raton, Florida in order to train with Imperial Athletics.
As Alistair Overeem trains in hope of becoming the UFC Heavyweight Champion, Junior dos Santos trains with the intent to keep his title as the current champion. The Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter, also known as “Cigano,” (gypsy in his native language of Portuguese) has capped his six-year professional career bydefeating Cain Velasquez at UFC on Fox 1 on November 12 , 2011. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt combines a fighting style of boxing and Jiu-Jitsu and, although he lacks the experience of Overeem, it is thought the dos Santos will retain his place as UFC Heavyweight Champion.
With extensive power, training and experience coming into the title fight of UFC 146, one thing is certain, this is bound to be a good fight. As Overeem contends to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion, dos Santos will be fighting to retain his position as the number-one slotted mixed martial arts fighter in the world. As the two fighters continue to train, we wait in anticipation for the upcoming event.