UFC 156: Alistair Overeem Gets Title Shot with Win over Bigfoot Silva

It looks like Alistair Overeem has a concrete commitment to fight for the UFC heavyweight championship should he win this weekend.

At UFC 156 on Saturday, Overeem meets Antonio Silva in the co-main event of the Super Bowl weekend card. It is his first fight since being suspended last year for failing a pre-fight drug test.

This was confirmed by mmajunkie.com, who received the information via Dana White. 

Overeem has been a man possessed as of late. The former Strikeforce heavyweight champion won his UFC debut with a devastating body kick and punches against Brock Lesnar at UFC 141.

Previous to his UFC debut, the Dutch powerhouse earned a lackluster decision over Fabricio Werdum, quickly knocked out Todd Duffee and smashed Brett Rogers.

His path ahead is not going to be easy, however.

First, Overeem must knock off Antonio Silva, a man who is taking this fight very seriously and using his emotions as motivation for this fight.

Luckily for Overeem, Silva has a huge target over his shoulders which Overeem can aim his power strikes at. A knockout is a high possibility in this fight.

Should he win and earn his title shot, he has some training to do for Cain Velasquez. The champion looked like a whole new man in winning back his title against Junior dos Santos.

Overeem will need to up his gas tank, as Velasquez is a cardio machine, as well as his counter wrestling. 

However, all signs point to Overeem having a good chance at beating Velasquez if he can touch his chin.

Again, though, he must beat Silva to earn the right to fight for the gold.