UFC 203: Stipe Miocic Vs Alistair Overeem Preview

 Loading ...

By JM “Shade” Daguio

The UFC is set to make its way to “The Land” of Cleveland, Ohio, UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic’s hometown. He will face #3 heavyweight Alistair Overeem. After dismantling the former champion Fabricio Werdum, Miocic is set to maintain his momentum as the king of the heavyweight hill, he has now carried the burden of defending his title in the baddest division in the UFC, history is not on Miocic’s side as the UFC heavyweight title has never been defended more than 2 consecutive times, but Miocic can change that with a dominating win against Overeem. Alistair Overeem on the other hand has been on a tear, 4-fight winning streak with 3 TKO’s and 1 decision. Overeem worked hard for this shot at the title as his first campaign for the title was unsuccessful.

With his high ranking status on the line, Overeem retooled his fighting strategy from a blistering first round attacker to a methodical, pacing sniper, the results of these changes were dramatic, he has defeated the who’s who of the heavyweight division namely 2 former heavyweight champs in Andrei Arlovski and Junior Dos Santos, not to mention he also has a win over Werdum outside the UFC.

The heavyweight division, despite not having younger talent, is still very much a shark tank and Miocic will have his hands full. Miocic showed that he has very much improved his overall MMA skills especially his boxing, he KO’d Werdum while going backwards exhibiting his awareness and pin-point accuracy. Miocic also has impressive takedown defense, he defended takedown attempts 73% of the time which put him in a position to keep the fight standing and dismantle his opponents with his boxing. If the fight does go to the ground, Miocic will be able to hold himself very well, given his wrestling background.

Miocic is a champion for a reason, he is very athletic and explosive, confident and strong, he went to Brazil to defeat the Brazilian champ and take the belt in front of the hometown crowd, that takes a lot heart and Miocic has that. Now Miocic has to make sure that Overeem would not do the same to him in his hometown. Alistair Overeem on the other hand, has been groomed to be the UFC champ but was derailed a few times due to his questionable conditioning and chin, some of his losses were fights he was dominating but he later slept on and got lazy. Judging from his last 4 impressive fights though, he’s not about that anymore. Overeem is a striking chess master, setting up traps, being unpredictable, patient and best of all, deadly.

His insane front kick KO of Arlovski was a thing of beauty and his overhand KO of Junior Dos Santos should be part of a striking study, he looked like he’s the uncrowned champ of the heavyweight division. However, his biggest problem is protecting his chin, Overeem has been KO’d (3 times out of his 3 losses) before and his challenge is how to protect himself from Miocic’s power while he dishes out his own brand of punishment, Overeem cannot rush against Miocic instead employ his effective hit and run tactic, Miocic is not unhittable, his striking defense is at 62% but Overeem’s accuracy is at 60% which will definitely compensate for the openings that Miocic leaves behind.

Grappling wise, Miocic may be a good wrestler but Overeem is the better overall ground specialist, he has a series of good submissions under his belt and has fought with the who’s who of jiu-jitsu and wrestling, Miocic may have a good base and maybe able to avoid takedowns but if the fight goes deep into the rounds and they hit the ground? Overeem may be able to pull off a submission.

This is an intriguing heavyweight fight, it’s definitely a toss-up, no clear advantages from either two but it’s very interesting to see who will be able to impose their will and strategy into the fight. Cleveland would be a sight to see on Sep. 10th.

[si-contact-form form=’2′]