The Reem is climbing the heavyweight ladder.
OK, I’ll be the first to admit it. I didn’t give Alistair Overeem much of a chance in his bout with Junior dos Santos. I was convinced that once the two heavyweights started trading punches that it would be Overeem who’d suffered the brunt of the onslaught. How wrong I was. Overeem past this test with flying colors, proving once again why MMA is the most exciting sport in the world. You just never know what will happen when the fighters get into the cage and 
last Saturday was the perfect example of that. The first round showed that both men respected the other a great deal, perhaps too much in fact. Both are devastating strikers, experience strikers, so it made sense that both would take a moment to figure out the man standing in front them. But once the fists, feet, and knees started flying it was Alistair Overeem that was winning the exchanges. As Overeem has always been demonized for having a weak chin it seemed that the strategy for this fight was fairly clear: hit and don’t get hit. If you ask me that’s exactly what fighting is all about. You should be dishing out the punishment without receiving any in return and Overeem pulled that off to perfection. It wasn’t the kind of strategy that would have fans glued to the TV screen, but when executed correctly, there’s nothing better to watch. Overeem was subtle in many of his movements, eventually timing dos Santos and utilizing efficient footwork to make it all happen. When he uncorked that left hook on dos Santos, jaws dropped and new questions immediately came to mind. Do we have a new contender in Alistair Overeem? The simple answer is yes, but in reality we have to consider the winner of Josh Barnett and Ben Rothwell as well before title shots start getting handed out. If Overeem is the next man to receive the heavyweight title shot then he’ll have a lot on his hands. He’s already defeated Fabricio Weirdum, but the version of the man he fought all those years ago has vanished, replaced by a far more dangerous, far more skilled mixed martial artist. If Cain Velasquez reclaims his thrown then there’s no doubt that Overeem will have some difficulty dealing with the former champ’s forward moving pressure and wrestling. 
