UFC 131 Fight Card: John Olav Einemo Underestimated Trains with Alistair Overeem

John Olav Einemo will make his UFC debut this Saturday night against top heavyweight prospect Dave Herman this Saturday night at UFC 131: Dos Santos vs. Carwin in Vancouver.

Einemo is coming in as a betting underdog against Herman and many people are expecting Herman to come away the victor.

There are a lot of unknowns in this matchup and to underestimate either of the two fighters is a mistake.

Since Herman is the favorite, let's have a look in to what Einemo brings to the table in the fight.

Obviously, Herman has father time on his side at 26 years old with Einemo being 35. Herman also has close to three times as many mixed martial arts fights under his belt as Einemo and he has been much more active in recent years than Einemo.

Einemo who suffered a leg injury that set him back in his career for a long time and hasn't fought in over five years—ring rust might be a factor.

That being said, the Norwegian big man brings a lot of intangibles to the table.

To say Einemo is a big man is an understatement, he is a true heavyweight at 6'6", weighing in at 261 pounds yesterday. He definitely holds the size advantage over Herman, who stands 6'5" tall and weighs in at 233 pounds.

More important than his size, however, are his grappling credentials. Einemo is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and has an Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship to his name as well as two semifinal appearances.

Not only did Einemo win the Abu Dhabi championship, but he is the only man to have beaten Roger Gracie in the tournament to date.

It is safe to say that Herman getting anywhere near the ground game of Einemo's would be like playing with fire so expect him to keep the fight standing for as long as he can.

Obviously mixed martial arts is a completely different sport compared to pure grappling competition and when the striking aspect is thrown into the mix many of the world's top grapplers simply don't find the success they found in straight grappling .

That being said, Einemo is 6-1 in mixed martial arts competition and one look at his training camp and training partners tells people he means business.

Golden Glory gym is a mixed martial arts and K1 kickboxing fight camp and is known for having some of the highest level strikers in all of mixed martial arts, particularly in the heavyweight division.

Alistair Overeem and Sergei Kharitonov may have something to prove in North America, but striking prowess is certainly something these guys aren't lacking.

To think that Einemo hasn't vastly improved his striking during his time with Golden Glory would be naive to say the least.

Of course, Einemo vs. Herman is a tough fight to call because of all the unknowns, but one thing is for sure Einemo has the tools to beat Herman and possibly become a force in the UFC heavyweight division.

People probably don't remember, but Einemo at one point was touted as the man to beat Fedor Emelianenko. If it hadn't been for the injuries who knows where he would be right now.

Stay tuned to Bleacher Report for all things UFC 131, including the latest UFC 131 results, fight card analysis, UFC 131 news and live reaction from Vancouver. 

Leon Horne has been contributing to Bleacher Report for three years now. He focuses mainly on mixed martial arts, but he has also written about tennis, football and hockey. Just send him a message if you want to talk sports or discuss any opportunities. You can follow him on Twitter for updates: