UFC: Why Alistair Overeem Has Something to Prove Against Brock Lesnar

People who look at Alistair Overeem's career resume and see an absolute beast of a man: A K-1 Kickboxing World Champion, a Strikeforce heavyweight Champion and a man with 35 career victories, 14 by knockout, 19 by submission, 27 wins coming within 1 round.

But taking a closer look at his resume, one might see that Overeem's 11 losses have all come against the toughest people he's faced. Chuck Liddell, Minotauro Nogueira, Rogerio Nogueira, Fabricio Werdum and Shogun Rua have all beaten Overeem on one occasion or another.

Before defeating Fabricio Werdum in the quarter-finals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix back in June, Overeem's last win over a quality opponent had been a whole year earlier when he defeated Brett Rogers, who had lost three of his last four fights. Rogers was also released from Strikeforce for a domestic violence arrest following a 10-0 start to his career. 

Before beating Rogers, Overeem's last win over a quality opponent was against Vitor Belfort, way back in 2006. 

Having only competed in MMA for four years, Brock Lesnar has already knocked out Randy Couture and Frank Mir, submitted Shane Carwin and won (and successfully defended twice) the UFC heavyweight Championship.

On December 30th, two beasts of men will step into the octagon in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans, looking to become the number one contender for the Heavyweight Championship. 

Simply by stepping into the octagon, Brock Lesnar will show what kind of man he is, choosing to return earlier than recommended, in order for a chance at getting another Heavyweight Championship shot.

For Overeem, its really "championship or bust."