Brock Lesnar: Alistair Overeem Is Good Practice for Junior dos Santos

There's no ignoring the weird, slightly ironic twists of fate involving the bout between Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem at UFC 141.

The winner of this bout will get a shot to face Junior dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. This, of course, is also Lesnar's first bout since October 2010. The one fight he was supposed to have between then and now was going to be against Dos Santos.

No doubt Lesnar would like nothing more than to beat Dos Santos to get his Heavyweight title back, but he's going to have to beat Overeem first.

A lot of people (myself included) think Lesnar has his work cut out for him. He's coming back after a long layoff, and he's facing the best striker in the heavyweight division. Overeem could do to Lesnar what Cain Velasquez did to him at UFC 121, and that's knock him out in the first round.

The book on Lesnar is that he can't take a punch, and he kind of proved the point the last time we saw him in the Octagon. Overeem is going to throw more than just punches his way. We're talking about a champion kickboxer, so Lesnar is going to be in trouble if he can't get this bout on the ground.

If Lesnar wins this bout, he's going to prove a lot of people wrong. People may think Lesnar has a soft chin now, but that reputation will change if Lesnar weathers Overeem's strikes and comes away with a victory.

If this is what ends up happening, you would have to feel pretty good about Lesnar's chances against Dos Santos. If he can beat the best striker in the heavyweight division, then surely he can beat a fighter who has gotten by primarily because of his boxing abilities.

As good as Dos Santos is, it's true that he's not exactly a well-rounded fighter. His MO is to go for quick finishes, and he doesn't have much incentive to change things seeing as how this MO has led him to the heavyweight championship. 

Besides, he proved against Velasquez that all he needs is one punch. If he could beat Velasquez with one punch, perhaps he could beat Lesnar with one punch.

It's just as likely that Dos Santos would need one punch to beat Lesnar. A longer fight would favor Lesnar. Give him enough time, and he will get you on the ground and use his elite wrestling skills. Even a fighter as good as Dos Santos would be in danger.

As easy as it is to entertain a hypothetical situation in which Lesnar beats Dos Santos to reclaim his heavyweight championship, it obviously only applies if Lesnar beats Overeem.

If he doesn't, we'll instead be asking ourselves if Overeem's kickboxing abilities are more dangerous than Dos Santos' boxing abilities. 

One way or the other, we'll be able to start asking our questions very soon.