UFC sets Lesnar vs. Overeem for Dec. 30
Posted by Drew Ellis (09/06/2011 @ 4:48 pm)
The UFC has been big with their announcements and another big one dropped on Tuesday.
The organization released through the L.A. Times that on Dec. 30, Alistair Overeem will make his UFC debut against none other than Brock Lesnar.
Brock Lesnar will return to the UFC octagon in a five-round main event Dec. 30 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, facing newly signed former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.
“Brock is a big name, a dangerous guy, and this is a dream matchup,” Overeem told The Times on Tuesday, just after signing a standard UFC fight contract in the office of Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta. “Brock’s a big guy, an exciting wrestler with his takedowns.
“I want to see this fight myself. Overall, I’m a different fighter. A striker, athletic, big. These are going to be two big trucks going at it on a collision course.”
This fight will be as anticipated as the Velasquez vs. dos Santos bout on Nov. 12, if not more, as Lesnar has the drawing power and Overeem was the last Strikeforce champion.
It is expected that this will be the main event of UFC 141 from Las Vegas and will take place on a Friday night, with New Year’s Eve being on a Saturday this year.
In terms of the fight, this should be explosive and very interesting. Overeem has the clear striking edge, but will he be able to fend off the explosive takedown attempts of Lesnar?
Either way, I don’t see this fight lasting too long.
Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Strikeforce, UFC
Tags: Alistair Overeem, Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Dana White, heavyweight division, Junior Dos Santos, Las Vegas, Lesnar vs. Overeem, Lorenzo Fertitta, MMA heavyweights, mma matchups, strikeforce heavyweights, top 10 heavyweights, UFC 141, ufc heavyweight championship, UFC heavyweights, ufc matchups, UFC vs. Strikeforce, Ultimate Fighting Championship
Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Odds: Barnett, Silva Favored
Posted by Drew Ellis (09/04/2011 @ 4:36 pm)
The semifinals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix takes place this upcoming Saturday night and we have the latest odds on the big matchups.
Bullz-Eye.com has the odds for the two semifinal contests, which features Josh Barnett and Segei Kharitonov and Daniel Cormier taking on Antonio Silva.
Barnett walks into his bout as the favorite with a betting line of -280 against Kharitonov, who has odds of +220. Barnett (30-5) is coming off a second-round submission win over Brett Rogers while Kharitonov (18-4) knocked out Andrei Arlovski in less than three minutes of his quarterfinal match.
In this semifinal, Barnett has the grappling edge while Kharitonov appears to have the KO power in his striking. Whoever can dictate the location of the fight will likely get the victory.
In the other semifinal, Silva (16-2) is the favorite to win with odds of -175 while his opponent Cormier (8-0), has odds of +145 to win. Silva defeated Fedor Emelinanenko by second round TKO to reach the semifinals while Cormier is filling in for Alistair Overeem, who was removed from the tournament due to his unwillingness to fight in September because of an injury.
Cormier is a strong wrestler with some good submission skills while Silva has started to put together a complete fight game. Silva has big punches and a smother grappling style. He looked the most impressive of any fighter in the quarterfinals, but now fights somewhat of an unknown in Cormier, who has just eight pro fights.
The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix will take place from the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati on Saturday. The show will air live on Showtime at 10PM ET.
Posted in: Betting Odds, Events, Fighters, News, Strikeforce
Tags: Antonio Silva, cormier vs. silva, Daniel Cormier, fight lines, fight odds, gambling odds, Heavyweight Grand Prix, Josh Barnett, kharitonov vs. Barnett, mixed martial arts, MMA, mma betting odds, MMA heavyweights, mma middleweights, mma money lines, mma wagers, muhammed lawal, Sergei Kharitonov, strikeforce heavyweights, strikeforce lines, strikeforce middleweight championship, strikeforce odds, top 10 heavyweights
