UFC 141: Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem Early Breakdown

On Dec. 30, one of the biggest—literally—matches in UFC history takes place, as former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will face off against former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.

This matchup has been dreamed of for quite some time, and now we will finally get to see it happen.

This is a true striker versus grappler matchup, but more will go into it than just that.

Let's look at an early breakdown for this epic fight.

Wrestling

The clear wrestling edge goes to Brock Lesnar.

As a former NCAA champion, there are few people whom Lesnar wouldn't have a wrestling advantage against.

Striking

Another clear advantage here, as Alistair Overeem has an obvious striking advantage over Lesnar.

In fact, Overeem is the former K-1 World Grand Prix champion.

It's no secret who has these first two advantages.

Chin

Overeem and Lesnar both have arguably no chin.

Therefore, it is a push. If one gets hit with a clean shot from the other, the night could be over right then.

Cardio

Neither fighter's cardio was particularly impressive in his last fight, as Lesnar was gassed in about two minutes and Overeem gassed in the third round of a relatively easy fight.

However, Lesnar was going all out in those two minutes, and Overeem wasn't doing all that much.

Additionally, Lesnar is well accustomed to training for five-round fights, so this will be no different.

If Lesnar paces himself, he'll have the cardio edge.

Submissions

Although he is primarily known as an accomplished kickboxer, Overeem has a majority of his wins—19 out of 35—via submission.

Lesnar has just two submissions in his career—only one of which is due to an actual submission hold—and it was against a completely gassed-out Shane Carwin.

Overeem gets the edge.

Winner

As far as fights go, this will be one of the closest to call.

People are split on who will win this fight, and last I saw, the odds were even as well.

However, in the striker versus grappler matchup, it is more often the grappler who pulls out the win.

This could easily go the other way, though, if Overeem lands something on the feet quickly, but I say Lesnar wins eight times out of 10.