Lesnar vs. Overeem: UFC Needs Alistair Overeem to Carry the Company

Brock Lesnar was a UFC money-making machine. Without him to carry cards and make the company millions upon millions of dollars, the UFC will be in huge trouble.

That’s a fate the UFC may have to face if Brock Lesnar follows through with his plan to retire from MMA.

Unless Alistair Overeem becomes that next giant star.

Overeem told the Las Vegas Sun about Lesnar’s retirement and what he should do:

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I think he shouldn’t walk away. He’s a guy who goes for it. I think he achieved a lot in a short span. It would be a shame if he stopped now. I still think there’s more to gain from it.

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While Overeem isn’t the perfect template for what the UFC wants from their stars, he is the perfect image of what Dana White and Co. no doubt want their stars to look like.

Overeem is a mammoth man, and for the first time in the longest time, there was a man in the Octagon that towered over Lesnar. It was awe-inspiring.

The hope from the UFC should be that they can bill Overeem as this physical monster that will beat anyone. For that to work, though, Overeem needs to beat Junior dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight title.

As much as I love dos Santos as a fighter, he is not what the UFC wants as a champion. While Junior is quiet and speaks little English, the UFC sells more tickets when a brash star like Brock Lesnar calls out his opponent.

One bright spot of all this mess was that Overeem was not backing down during the whole process and even helped escalate the feud at times. That’s what the company wants if they are going to make Alistair the face of the UFC.

While the UFC and WWE have done anything and everything they can to separate themselves from the other, the similarities can’t be ignored. Despite the lack of a real fight put up by Lesnar, he gave the “Rub” to Overeem.

In wrestling that means you now know about Alistair Overeem because you tuned in to see Brock Lesnar. The key for any star is that once he has that attention, he never lets it go.

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