Alistair Overeem's K-1 Opponent Could Send Him Home Early
by memitim on Sep 8, 2010 4:36 PM EDT
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PrintAlistair Overeem has put MMA on hold and is dedicated to K-1 this fall. He wants to be the first to hold both the K-1 GP World Championship and an MMA Heavyweight championship at the same time. He has always stated it as a goal he wants to achieve in his career. He has blocked out his schedule thru December to accomplish that goal. But, there is one problem. Ben Edwards is his first round opponent.
You may not have heard of Ben Edwards. He has been a terror on the Aussie kickboxing scene for a few years now. He is an absolute beast. The 25 year old Edwards hails from Australia. He stands at 6' 3" and weighs 254 pounds. In this year's Oceania GP, Edwards set a new K-1 record for the fastest win in K-1 GP tournament history. It took Edwards a total of 3:28 to complete his win, defeating K-1 veteran, Paul Slowinski, in 56 seconds in the final bout. In the quarterfinals, Edwards displayed incredible power by knocking out Faisal Zakaria in spectacular fashion with a crushing right. Edwards style displays no fear as he quickly engages and throws hands, heavy hands. We have seen Alistair finish opponents with devastating swiftness, but when he is challenged by a hard hitting fighter his chin has shown weakness.
No doubt Overeem will be the favorite going into this bout and he should be. Edwards is still building his resume in K-1 while Overeem is a star in the field of competitors. Still, watching Edwards fight and witnessing the crushing power he has in his right hand I can easily see this as a quick exit for Overeem. Edwards is exactly the kind of fighter that Overeem has trouble with and he could be looking at an early ticket home and no payday for the rest of the year. Regardless of the outcome it is a great first round bout. This year's World GP should be special.
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Nah...
For Edwards, he is a 25 year old kid who is happy to make it the big dance. He has nothing to lose in this fight.
by memitim on Sep 8, 2010 5:18 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
and Overeem COULD knee his face into the 4th row.
its a fight, anything can happen buddy.
"How do you shoot the devil in the back? What if you miss?"
No kidding.
I said Reem is and should be the favorite in this fight. It seems like to Reem and many others that his entry into the finals is a foregone conclusion. I just wanted to give a little color that his opponent is no joke and exactly the kind of fighter Alistair has had trouble with in the past.
by memitim on Sep 8, 2010 4:57 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
What trouble?
You are inventing some weird weakness in order to spin more anti-Overeem nonsense. Alastair isn’t a shoe-in for the finals, depending on who he fights. This kid ain’t one of the guys keeping him out.
"Don’t quote old fucks to me" – Brent Brookhouse
Alistair's chin isn't a weakness? Uhmm, ok.
by memitim on Sep 8, 2010 6:50 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
getting put down by badr hari is a sure sign you have a terrible chin.
by Hendo_One-Shot on Sep 8, 2010 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Out of Alistair’s combined K-1/MMA defeats 9 out of 15 came way of the (T)KO. I’m not breaking new ground here by pointing out Alistair’s weak chin. He gets hit hard he falls apart.
by memitim on Sep 8, 2010 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
OR,
you could actually watch those fights and see that mini-reem gasses, then gets beat up.
by Anton Tabuena on Sep 8, 2010 10:43 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Noooo...
That would take too much effort…
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." -Arthur Schopenhauer
Haters are gonna hate and bitches are gonna bitch...
by BigDNotDallas on Sep 8, 2010 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions
In some fights, like the first Rua fight, he gassed out. But, guys like Chuck, Rua in the second fight, Arona, Kharitonov, Hari hit him hard and he doesn’t recover. Those (t)ko were before he gassed out. Alistair is at his best when he can bully a fighter and land quick, devastating knees. But, once a guy can stand in front of him and hit him hard, he loses it. It’s like the air going out of a balloon.
by memitim on Sep 8, 2010 11:06 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
that was CHUCK, not Chuck.
That was the Chuck that punched you so damn hard that spectators got concussions. That was the Chuck that received FAA fines for failing to file a flight plan before launching someone’s jaw into low orbit. You’re forgetting who he was.
So much cock. A cock guy.
Read my stuff at SMG.
by inadvertentgroinstrike on Sep 9, 2010 12:46 AM EDT up reply actions
No question. But like baseball, a player is defined by how he stacks up against his colleagues. I have never seen Overeem stand above his colleagues at any part of his career.
Dude, don't even try to defend yourself.
You made your point as clear as day and people still bitch about it and try to disprove it.
Nice post.
"Vo-cab-u-lary's necessary when diggin' into my library..."
He was winning that fight,
but slowed down after…. and as mr.groinstrike mentioned, that was CHUCK. No shame in going down after a ton of knee strikes to the head, and powerful overhand rights.
by Anton Tabuena on Sep 9, 2010 2:22 AM EDT up reply actions
That's not true at all
He gassed both times against Rua and against Chuck. I would lay odds you didn’t watch his second fight with Hari, his chin wasn’t weak in that fight AT ALL.
"Don’t quote old fucks to me" – Brent Brookhouse
You would lay odds and be wrong, Vegas. He was going to be finished after the kick he received to the head against Badr Hari, he was reeling. Badr would have finished him despite the rule. If you think the second the fight against Rua he gassed or even the fight against Chuck I think that is crazy. He was working fine in both fights till he got clocked. If you can’t make it thru five minutes of a fight what are you doing in there? Like I mentioned in a previous post, show me one match where Overeem was hit hard, was in trouble and he came back. I listed some examples. it’s three posts down. You can say he gasses, I think he has a weak chin, either way he gets his will taken away when he gets hit hard. But, please show me an example where he withstood punishment and came back.
He was going to be finished after the kick he received to the head against Badr Hari, he was reeling.
Watch it again. Reeling is what Fedor did when Fujita clocked him. Overeem got stung and recovered fine.
If you can’t make it thru five minutes of a fight what are you doing in there?
Pissing blood. There is a reason he went to heavyweight.
show me an example where he withstood punishment and came back.
What you’re talking about is his heart, not his chin. He might have a weak “heart” for fighting, but his chin is fine. He folds or used to fold under pressure, but that was when he was cutting to much weight and killing himself before the fights.
"Don’t quote old fucks to me" – Brent Brookhouse
The lights go out in Rua II at about the 3:30 mark. He is on his back, working from guard and boom the lights go out. Against Kharitonov he is working fine till gets clocked and goes reeling into the ropes. He wasn’t pissing blood in those fights. His weight was fine. I could give more examples.
I did watch the Badr Hari fight. If the ref doesn’t step in Reem is about to get swarmed. It was over.
I think it is a combo of no chin/no heart. He is a bully. And just like most bullies when you smack them they back down. That’s how I view Reem.
His weight was not fine. It wasn’t fine at LHW for a long time, if ever.
If he had no chin he would be getting knocked out. He doesn’t get knocked out (usually), he gets (or used to get broken).
He is a bully, no doubt. Look, he still might fold if someone puts pressure on him. We just don’t know that, yet. Using fights where he was depleted before he ever got into the ring because of the weight cut has absolutely no bearing on the fighter he is at HW. Even less bearing on how he performs in K1.
"Don’t quote old fucks to me" – Brent Brookhouse
He was fighting at HW against Kharitonov in their second fight and he got knocked out. Weight was not an issue.
True
He is 1-1 with Sergei. But we’re not going to start saying people have weak chins because Kharitonov K.O.’d them I hope.
"Don’t quote old fucks to me" – Brent Brookhouse
I’ve been very disappointed with Kharitonov lately – he used to be my dark horse to beat Fedor outside the UFC.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
Contributor for WatchKalibRun.com
Still Subo at Fightlinker.com
by Derek Suboticki on Sep 9, 2010 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Ain't that the truth
I am a big Kharitonov fan. No clue why the wheels came off the bus.
"Don’t quote old fucks to me" – Brent Brookhouse
No, of course not. It is just an example where weight can not be factored into a potential reason why Alistair loses most of his fights by (t)ko.
Sure it can
Just Sergei KOing him is meaningless when discussing his failings at 205
"Don’t quote old fucks to me" – Brent Brookhouse
The Kharitonov KO was similar to KO’s he received at 205. He was working fine and then gets hit, soon after the wheels come off.
okay?
They are still unrelated. At 205 Alastair was drained. We can’t really hold much against him at that weight, we have to rely on what he does at his current weight.
"Don’t quote old fucks to me" – Brent Brookhouse
Overeem doesn't have an Arvloski/Thompson chin
His problem was gassing out then getting hit or just being ridiculously overwhelmed by Badr Hari.
This is an interesting bout tho.
Food goes in here
by Pandanus on Sep 9, 2010 12:01 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
It’s not that he has an Arlovski chin (which in his fight against Bigfoot showed Arlovski’s chin isn’t that bad), it is more that when he gets hit hard he declines quickly. Watch his fights against Chuck or Arona or Rua II or Badr Hari or even Kharitonov; he deflates. It is more that he gets his will taken away. He needs to bully and strike fast, if not he crumbles. This kid, Edwards, has shown that he can turn the lights off with his right hand. I think he has a good shot of exploiting this chink in Alistair’s armor. We will see come October.
Let me put it this way. Show me a fight where Overeem’s had a stellar comeback. Think Fedor v Randleman/Fujita/Hunt or Anderson/Chael or Brock v Carwin, Le v Smith, Nog v Crocop, Henderson v Shields, Hughes v Trigg? Let me know when Alistair has shown that fortitude. I haven’t seen it but I’m willing to be educated.
I know you mean, some of it was mixed with lack conditioning and injury too, ie the Nog 2 fight where he was wearing tape on his neck during the bout.
He didn’t crumble in the Remy fight when he got dropped thought it was a strange loss in terms of judging.
Fom what I’ve seen with Edwards is that he mainly throws punches, the occasional leg kick to set things up but mainly left hooks and right crosses so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of game he’ll bring to Alistair.
Food goes in here
and even on the 2nd Hari bout,
he took hard shots, but he got “stopped” cause of the knockdowns, but it wasn’t like he was really dazed and KO’ed.
by Anton Tabuena on Sep 9, 2010 2:23 AM EDT up reply actions
Here's Ben's 2 bouts with Slowinski
1 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HlQ-f-u8Bk
2 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKJiy8A3TUo
Food goes in here
The first one you have listed is the 2010 Oceania GP. The second you have listed is their fight in October of 2009. Here is the rest of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Khm9TJa5cE&feature=related
Reem is human he can get KO'ed,
but his chin is fine.
In the past he gassed out and got swarmed. Ubereem is a different animal.
All that horse meat gave him superpowers.
Reem by 2 round TKO.
Semper Fi'
WatchKalibRun.com
Pain don't hurt...
If you think years of proper training, nutrition and fighting
can improve a young mans ability to fight, you sir, are a fool.
"I trained with Steven Seagal."
by B.H. Farnsworth on Sep 9, 2010 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Nah
he’s a tough puncher but that’s about it.
I mean he got dropped twice by leg kicks against slowinski, the guy is too one deminsional for Overeem.
I apologize for my never-ending assault on the English Language. I feel like Qui the promoter from Jade Empire...
Then he became a better fighter and finished Slowinski in under a minute. He reminds me of Kharitonov. I think he has a great chance of knocking out Reem.
by memitim on Sep 8, 2010 6:52 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
You like convicted felons?
As an Aussie, I am willing to donate Paul Hogan to the States.
Forever indebted to CroCop's left leg for getting me into MMA
by Well Read Idiot on Sep 9, 2010 2:07 AM EDT up reply actions
Good article, you should post it over at Head Kick Legend
pretty sure you’d get the front page treatment. Overeem’s definitely the favorite (as he should be), but Ben’s bringing size, youth, power and desire into this fight which is more than enough to upset anybody. Rec’d
Let's get naked and see who's stronger.
Alistair is the favourite...
..but like you say, he isn’t invincible. This is the first (well 2nd) thing I’ve seen about Bedwards.
Edwards is a sloppy slugger and the weakest kickboxer in this year’s Final 16. I viewed it as a gimme fight, but hey…
"...I don't want to save the World, I don't even want to save me. We're so boring that we don't event want to save ourselves...There's nothing left to say, we're so fucking boring. Let it die I say. Let there be a new beginning...It's awful. Goodnight"
He does hold the record now for the fastest GP tournament win in K1 history. That means something. He is only 25. I think we might be watching a fighter coming into his own. But, we will find out in a few weeks.
That means something
He fought chumps (barring Slowinski). Just like Ghita lasy year.
"...I don't want to save the World, I don't even want to save me. We're so boring that we don't event want to save ourselves...There's nothing left to say, we're so fucking boring. Let it die I say. Let there be a new beginning...It's awful. Goodnight"
by dancingChicken on Sep 9, 2010 1:26 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, it’s similar to Zulu being 15-0, all KO’s, before fighting Fedor. Or maybe it’s like Carwin’s 12-0, who would probably be the #1 HW if he paced himself and picked his punches.
Are you sure
He was 15-0 in MMA? I didn’t think he had that many fights…
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." -Arthur Schopenhauer
Haters are gonna hate and bitches are gonna bitch...
by BigDNotDallas on Sep 10, 2010 4:41 AM EDT up reply actions
I suppose his Wikipedia record could be fabricated, but he was at least 4-0 in verifiable events.
I was just pointing out that KO machines with good records could go either way. Zulu turned out to be a can, Carwin turned out to a be little patience short of the worlds #1 HW. I think the wins against Slowinski and Zakaria mean something, but who knows.
How he fares against Overeem won’t say much either, as it would have been easy to write Edwards off after losing his second match to Slowinski.
I totally agree
When a guy has never really fought anyone at all well known, its easy to get an inflated record.
Let’s take Bader as an example. He has fought some known guys, but no one in the UFC any longer. Great as he looks to many now, if Nog beat him and then he also drops say he drops his next 3, people will say he was a can, even though at the moment he is probably a fringe top-10 guy…
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." -Arthur Schopenhauer
Haters are gonna hate and bitches are gonna bitch...
by BigDNotDallas on Sep 11, 2010 12:59 AM EDT up reply actions
First, Faisal Zakaria is not a chump. He was a World Muay Thai champion. Second, beating three men in 3:28 seconds is an impressive feat no matter what. You can discount it all you want, doesn’t change the fact that it is quite an accomplishment for a young and up and coming fighter like Edwards.
MT HW scene is non existent and 36 year old Zakaria is far away from a champion.
If I was Edwards, I would brag about K1GP record, it is an accomplishment. It looks nice in resume. But his skills are not that good, that’s why I think that he’s a gimme for Overeem. He could slug the shit out of 3 people in 20 seconds, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s technically weak and had bad defense, which doesn’t bode well against technically efficient and powerful kickboxers in K1.
"...I don't want to save the World, I don't even want to save me. We're so boring that we don't event want to save ourselves...There's nothing left to say, we're so fucking boring. Let it die I say. Let there be a new beginning...It's awful. Goodnight"
by dancingChicken on Sep 9, 2010 2:22 PM EDT up reply actions
The point is Zakaria has some skill. He is not a chump. And Slowinski is quite accomplished. I don’t know how you can say that Edwards has bad defense and is weak technically. He has great counter punching. He is a developing fighter and getting better with each fight.
Well, I wish him nothing but the best. I just don’t rate his skills high, especially in comparison to other K1 fighters.
"...I don't want to save the World, I don't even want to save me. We're so boring that we don't event want to save ourselves...There's nothing left to say, we're so fucking boring. Let it die I say. Let there be a new beginning...It's awful. Goodnight"
by dancingChicken on Sep 9, 2010 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Does anyone see shades of Fedor in the way Edwards strikes?
He’s got that fearless, rapid fire, somewhat looping style, and even the emotionless face. The analogy ends there, but there aren’t many people that punch the way Fedor does.
Looks like he’ll carry the nothing-to-lose attitude at the GP this year. Will be interesting to see how he does against Overeem.
Stoked to see a local boy on the big stage!!
Was anyone at the Hopoate fight? I wasn’t but the story is bit of a legend around Canberra..
A little bit of a trek for me
but here is a decent video of it. Pretty crazy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiwkEfy_T5M
Edwards is exactly the kind of fighter that Overeem has trouble with
So yea… that happened.
"Don’t quote old fucks to me" – Brent Brookhouse
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