UFC 141: Alistair Overeem Does Not Deserve The Credit He Gets
That's right, I said it.
Alistair Overeem does not deserve the amount of credit that he gets.
I can see the main argument now: But he's 10-0 [1 NC] in his past 11 fights!
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Unfortunately, a padded record does not make you one of the best fighters in the world. In this 11-fight streak that Overeem is currently on, he has not beaten a single top fighter.
Paul Buentello has lost to Stefan Struve and Cheick Kongo, both low-level heavyweights. Lee Tae Hyun is 1-2 in MMA and retired after the loss to Overeem.
Mark Hunt is a solid kickboxer but of his seven career losses in MMA, six were by submission—nothing to be proud of.
Gary Goodridge has lost eight fights in a row. Tony Sylvester retired after his loss to Overeem. James Thompson is 4-12 [1 NC] in his last 17 fights. Kazuyuki Fujita has not fought since the loss to Overeem. Brett Rogers has lost four out of five. Todd Duffee has been proven to be overrated.
And finally, Overeem's fight with Fabricio Werdum was awful; Overeem was actually being outstruck by Werdum.
Read that over as many times as you like, but it always comes out the same. Overeem's competition has been terrible, and he does not deserve all the credit that he gets.
In case you don't want to do the math, I'll simply tell you that the combined record of Overeem's opponents, since and including the losses to him, are 9-22 [1 NC]. Additionally, five of the fighters he's beaten have not fought since their loss to him.
As I mentioned earlier, the biggest argument for Overeem is his recent record, and he gets the publicity because of the Strikeforce heavyweight title.
Imagine for a moment that Strikeforce fielded a bantamweight division and Renan Barao was the champion. For those that don't know, Barao has a record of 27-1 [1 NC] and is on a 28-fight unbeaten streak.
Can you honestly say that if Barao was the Strikeforce bantamweight champion that people wouldn't argue he were a top-three bantamweight?
I'm not discrediting Overeem as a fighter; I'm not discrediting his skills or his abilities.
I'm simply saying that he doesn't deserve the credit we give him. If he beats Brock Lesnar, then he will deserve it. Until then, he simply does not.
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