Strikeforce Dallas: Power Ranking Alistair Overeem's 10 First-Round Beatdowns

Alistair Overeem has heard the talk. He knows you think he’s overrated. He knows you think he's just a musclebound bully. He knows you don’t think his knockouts, while spectacular, ever come against anyone of consequence. And he knows you don’t think he’d stand a chance in the UFC.

Overeem understands all that. But if it’s all so true, why am I a little afraid for Fabricio Werdum at Strikeforce Dallas this Saturday?

It's probably because Overeem seems more than a little motivated to use Werdum as a proxy for all those Internet critics, then as a springboard to the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix title and, ultimately, the Octagon.

Whether any of it actually happens (and whether the doubts over his UFC readiness are justified) is anyone’s guess. But it's all possible when you’re capable of finishing fights as quickly as Overeem.

Whether he is overrated or not, I can count on one hand the number of fighters with as much demonstrated stopping power.

To get you prepared (or perhaps desensitized) for the violence you might witness this Saturday at Strikeforce Dallas, we proudly present a power ranking of Overeem’s 10 career first-round knockouts. Please enjoy.

10. Brett Rogers

What: TKO, punches, 3:40 of round 1
Where: Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery, St. Louis
When: May 15, 2010

Rogers hits like a grizzly bear, but when it comes to protecting himself, he’s more like a brontosaurus, in that his main defense is the fact that he is large.

That might have been why Rogers didn’t seem to much enjoy it when Overeem tossed him to the ground like an overheated kid tosses a drippy ice cream cone.

He enjoyed it even less when Overeem spent the next two minutes pounding him into the mat with steadily escalating ferocity.

9. Todd Duffee

What: KO, punches, 0:19 of round 1
Where: Dynamite 2010, Japan
When: Dec. 31, 2010

A left hook was all it took.

I think I saw something fly out of the ring at the end there. Oh, it was just Todd Duffee’s relevance.

8. Kazuyuki Fujita

What:  KO, knees, 1:15 of round 1
Where: Dynamite 2009, Japan
When: Dec. 31, 2009

This one is impressive not only because it happened in just over a minute, but because it happened in just over a minute against arguably the hardest-headed man in the history of mixed martial arts, and perhaps the entire solar system. 

Seriously, ballads have been written about Fujita’s head. Apparently, Alistair Overeem doesn’t care much for ballads.

I know Fujita’s old and all here (39, to be exact), and he doesn’t exactly pose any threat to Overeem in the traditional “fighting” sense. But still. I find it impressive.

7. Chris Watts

What: KO, knee to body, 3:58 of round 1
Where: Rings, Holland
When: Feb. 26, 2000

You read that right. A KO. From a knee. To the body.

Overeem wasn’t always the minotaur we see today. But he was always able to hit you. Hard. All the evidence needed comes in his third professional MMA fight.

I don’t know Chris Watts from Adam, and to his credit he fought gamely, but you can tell he knew from the opening seconds that he was in some deep, deep dung. And he was right.

If you take the full six minutes to watch the entirety of this thorough, thorough butt-kicking, I think you’ll be glad you did.

6. Vesa Vuori

What: TKO, punches, 2:15 of round 1
Where: 2 Hot 2 Handle, Germany
When: May 26, 2002
 
A huge overhand left puts Vuori in the corner, where Overeem quickly pounds him out.

Great example of the explosiveness Overeem brings to the ring.

5. Mike Bencic

What: Submission (strikes), 3:44 of round 1
Where: Pride 26, Japan
When: June 8, 2003
 
Overeem’s signature knees strike again, literally. And the helpless and hapless Bencic doesn’t wait around to find out when the ref might be inclined to stop it.

Though this entire highlight video is worth watching, the Bencic portion starts at the 3:47 mark. I started shaking my head at about 3:50.

4. Can Sanhibas

What: KO, knee, 2:21 of round 1
Where: 2 Hot 2 Handle, Holland
When: March 5, 2000

First of all, much respect to the guy from De La Soul for stepping into the MMA ring.

Secondly, dang. The guy from De La Soul really knows how to put a brutal knee on a dude.

Poor Sanhibas doesn’t seem to know what hit him as he lies in a lump on the ground for some time after the fight has been called.

The action starts at the 2:20 mark.

3. Yusuke Imamura

What: TKO, knees, 0:44 of round 1
Where: Pride the Best 2, Japan
When:  July 20, 2002

The fight that put Alistair Overeem on the map.

Making his Pride debut, Overeem wrecks Imamura in a mere 45 seconds, swarming Imamura like a tiger and bullying him in that now-so-familiar way.

Like it or not, this was the beginning of an era.

2. Stanislav Nuschik

What: TKO, knees, 0:53 of round 1
Where: 2 Hot 2 Handle, Holland
When: March 18, 2001

I’m a little uncertain about the audience in this one. They seem to have wandered in from the untelevised portion of the Golden Globe Awards.

Nothing uncertain about ‘Reem’s performance, though. After a perfect knee to the bridge of his nose, Nuschik stiffens like Wile E. Coyote after the anvil, then crumple to the mat in a heap.

Just a devastating and virtuostic display, made all the more exciting for its foreshadowing of the career to come.

1. Sergei Kharitonov

What: TKO, knees, 5:13 of round 1
Where: Pride 31, Japan
When: Feb. 26, 2006

A lot of this video focuses on the aftermath, in which Kharitonov limps back to the locker room looking as if he’s been run through a grain thresher.

That’s interesting in its own right, I suppose, but there’s enough in-ring action here so that you get a sense of the fight.

And if you’re wondering why Kharitonov is holding his arm that way, that would be as a result of the shoulder he dislocated, which I imagine happened while he was trying to struggle out of the quasi-crucifix position Overeem had him in, which I imagine was placed on Sergei so that Overeem could knee him in the face 32 consecutive times.

That, as they say, will leave a mark.