Alistair Overeem: His Top 5 Performances in Anticipation of His UFC Arrival

Alistair Overeem is set to make his UFC debut against former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in a title eliminator of epic proportions at UFC 141 this December 30 in Las Vegas.

Both men are hulking specimens who touch or surpass the 265 pound heavyweight limit. The anticipation and hype surrounding this fight couldn't be any higher.

Having Overeem in the UFC will prove useful for the promotion as they continue to make headway in the international market. He is extremely popular with the Japanese fans for his stints in Pride Fighting Championships, Dream and K1 kickboxing.

Combine Overeem's international star power along with Lesnar's drawing power and polarizing character, and there is no doubting the possibility that UFC 141 may very well be one of the most successful cards of 2011.

Overeem has competed in both the light heavyweight and more recently heavyweight divisions and despite not always having the most success, the Dutchman has, for the most part, always been involved in exciting fights win or lose.

With all this in mind, let's countdown the top five performances of Alistair Overeem's career.

Overeem Dominated Brett Rogers Like None Other Prior to Josh Barnett

Brett Rogers was 10-0-0 at one point in his career, with a 22 second knockout victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.

He then met former pound for pound great Fedor Emelianenko where he put forth a good effort in round one, breaking Emelianenko's nose and sustaining relatively little damage himself. In round two, the Russian landed a well placed punch and sent the big man to the canvas.

Surprisingly, Rogers was offered a title shot against Overeem despite having lost to Emelianenko. What ensued was the worst beatdown of Rogers' career. Overeem shrugged off the 265 pound Rogers and threw him to the ground as if he were a lightweight. From there, Overeem methodically worked his ground and pound until the referee had seen enough.

After the loss to Overeem, Rogers would not win in Strikeforce again and was subsequently released by the organization after he was arrested for beating up his wife.

Overeem Put Badr Hari to Sleep in 2008

K1 Kickboxing bad boy Badr Hari has faced off against Overeem on two occasions, both have knockout wins over each other.

Hari and Overeem squared off against each other for the first time at Dynamite! 2008 in Saitama, Japan. It was all Overeem from the get go. He dropped Hari with a knee/left hook combination early in round one. Hari got up from that first knockdown, but shortly after Overeem landed another left hook flush to the chin of Hari sending him to the canvas for good.

This win came under kickboxing rules for Overeem, it is one of the Dutchman's biggest wins of his career because many regard Hari as one of the premier heavyweight kickboxers in the world.

A third fight to complete the trilogy between these two seems necessary, but not likely. Overeem is signed to fight exclusively in the UFC from now on and Hari has left the world of kickboxing for professional boxing.

Combine that with the disinterest Hari has in MMA and Hari vs. Overeem three is a match fans can only dream of.

Overeem Defeats Tyrone Spong, Gokhan Saki and Peter Aerts in One Night

A crowning achievement of Alistair Overeem's career was winning the 2010 K1 Heavyweight Grand Prix. It would mark the first time ever that a fighter held both a heavyweight title in MMA and in kickboxing at the same time.

Overeem did so by beating Tyrone Spong via decision, former teammate Gokhan Saki by first round technical knockout and Dutch kickboxing legend Peter Aerts by first round knockout.

By winning the K1 title, the most prestigious title in kickboxing, Overeem really solidified himself as the best striker to be competing in MMA.

Although he is an excellent striker, Overeem also possesses a strong game off his back as we will see later.

Todd Duffee, Not the Best Competition, but Overeem Made History Against Him

Todd Duffee was a hot prospect coming up in the UFC heavyweight division until he met Mike Russow and upset his boss, and UFC president, Dana White.

Duffee has the record for fastest knockout in the UFC, a knockout that came in seven seconds against Canadian fighter Tim Hague.

Duffee went on to utterly dominate the majority of his fight with Russow, until Russow landed a devastating knockout blow in the third and final round.

From there, Duffee's apparent lack of enthusiasm, according to White, led to his release from the UFC.

Duffee's next fight was against Overeem at Dynamite! 2010 in Saitama, Japan. Duffee maybe didn't have the experience at the time, but the guy is a physical specimen (just look at the picture) and he can throw knockout blows.

Overeem shrugged off a Duffee takedown attempt like it was nothing and then crushed the American with brutal blows to the body and head that ended the fight in under a minute.

Duffee certainly wasn't Overeem's toughest opponent, but it did give him the Dream interim heavyweight championship and the third belt to add to his ever-growing collection.

Vitor Belfort Simply Couldn't Solve Alistair Overeem at Light Heavyweight

Vitor Belfort first squared off with Overeem in the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix opening round in Osaka, Japan. Overeem slapped on his patented guillotine choke in round one and forced Belfort to tap.

Their second meeting took place at a catch weight of 210 pounds in San Jose, California, for the Strikeforce promotion. Overeem won a unanimous decision over the former UFC champion.

Overeem's darkest days in professional fighting happened aroud the time he fought Belfort, eight of his 11 losses came at this time. Unfortunately for Belfort, he couldn't do what Chuck Liddell, Mauricio Rua, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Ricardo Arona and Fabricio Werdum were able to do and that was finish Overeem.

The wins over Belfort are Overeem's biggest wins to date, they were over an opponent who had previously held a UFC championship and who is still a top ranked title contender in the middleweight division today.

The guillotine submission Overeem slapped on Belfort back in 2005 has become his signature move. In 35 professional wins and 19 submission victories, Overeem has eight guillotine finishes.

It will be interesting to see on December 30 if former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will be able to stay out of Overeem's guillotine if he wrestles him to the ground.

In any case, the Lesnar match is probably the biggest fight of both men's careers and any time you get two guys as big as Overeem and Lesnar in the cage, fireworks are to be expected.

Leon Horne is a writer for Bleacher Report and is part of the B/R MMA interview team, Follow @Leon_Horne