Heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos met for the co-main event of UFC on Fox 18 in Orlando, Florida. After a fairly inactive first round, Overeem stopped the fight at the end of the second round with a big left and hammerfists.
This marked eighth-ranked Overeem's 55th fight. The Dutch kickboxer has wins over Frank Mir, Brock Lesnar, Roy Nelson and current heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum. Dos Santos was the No. 2-ranked UFC heavyweight going into the fight, with significant wins over former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, Frank Mir, Mark Hunt, and Stipe Miocic. Fox Sports: UFC noted Overeem's win:
Big tree fall hard! Alistair Overeem KO's Junior Dos Santos with a BEAST of a left hook! #UFCOrlando https://t.co/xl97T3Xnen
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 20, 2015
Round 1
They dance around for an entire minute before dos Santos throws a leg kick—the first strike of the fight—that doesn't connect. Dos Santos throws a jab that doesn't connect and a right shortly afterward that also doesn't connect. They exchange kicks at the same time. Dos Santos throws a head kick that Overeem blocks, and Overeem seems fine.
Overeem throws a knee to the body, and dos Santos follows with a jab. Dos Santos throws a leg kick. Overeem throws a leg kick and then lands a good left, causing dos Santos' nose to bleed. So far in this fight there have been almost exclusively single strikes thrown—no combinations. Cigano throws a spinning kick Overeem is ready for, and he takes Cigano's back. He's looking to set up a takedown, but the round ends before he can.
Round 2
Overeem starts the round by throwing an outside leg kick, but dos Santos throws a front kick directly to the groin, and the fight is halted. Time restarts after Overeem has a chance to recover, and they both start off throwing kicks. Overeem throws a body kick, followed by a leg kick that dos Santos checks. At 90 seconds into Round 2, the fight is still fairly inactive. Dos Santos throws a spinning heel kick that misses. The round continues with it's slow pace, with infrequent strikes thrown.
Neither fighter appears to be taking much damage. Overeem lands a good left in a combination, opening up a cut on dos Santos' cheek. Dos Santos throws some strikes, backs Overeem up against the cage and lands some body shots before Overeem can take the fight back to the center. Overeem lands a left hook right on dos Santos' jaw, snapping Cigano's head back. Cigano drops, and while he's not completely out, he's clearly hurt and dazed. Overeem's follow-up hammerfists cause referee Dan Miragliotta to step in and stop the fight at 4:43.
This is just dos Santos' fourth loss out of 21 total fights. He is now 2-3 in his last five fights, with two of those losses coming at the hands of Cain Velasquez. His last fight was a decision win over Stipe Miocic more than a year ago.
Overeem is a longtime MMA veteran and has been fighting since 1999. With a 4-1 record in his last five, he won a unanimous decision over Roy Nelson in March at UFC 185 in his last fight.
With this victory over No. 2-ranked contender dos Santos, Overeem should rocket to consideration for a title shot after Werdum defends his unified title for the first time versus Velasquez in February 2016. Overeem is the last fighter Werdum lost to—back in 2011.
In his post-fight speech, Overeem said, “Junior is a very dangerous opponent. He throws bombs. He throws strong, so we had to have game plan and figure out his rhythm then slowly pick him apart. He's very dangerous and strong. I had to figure him out; I feel confident with the team around me. Thank(s) all of you guys. I feel confident for the next title shot.”
