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With 'The Demolition Man' Alistair Overeem set to return to the Octagon at the main event of UFC on ESPN 7 against Jairzinho Rozenstruik on 8th December, let's take a look at the most high profile victory of the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion's career till date.
Battle of the beasts
When his fight against 'The Beast Incarnate' Brock Lesnar was booked for UFC 141, the fans went into a frenzy at the prospect of watching these two forces of nature collide inside the cage.
Overeem endured a topsy-turvy road en-route to his UFC debut
Heading into the fight, Lesnar lost his heavyweight title to Cain Velasquez and he was looking to prove a point by beating a lethal kick-boxer like Overeem. Reem, however, hadn't lost in four years heading into the fight which also happened to be his UFC debut.
The road to Overeem's UFC debut was rocky, to say the least as he had recently left the team he used to train with and he had a run-in with the Nevada State Athletic Commission regarding his refusal to get a drug test done before the fight. But what really rocked the heavyweight was the appalling news that his mother was diagnosed with cancer for the third time.
Stepping inside the cage in front of a sold out Madison Square Garden for the biggest fight of his life, Overeem turned up and how. He demolished Lesnar with a first round KO, literally laying the smack down on the former heavyweight champion.
Demolition of The Beast Incarnate
Overeem kept his calm in the early exchanges, maintaining distance from Lesnar and avoiding the takedown. With the takedown cleverly taken out of play by Overeem, Lesnar was left with no other option but to resort to striking, which has been bread and butter for Overeem.
In another smart move, Overeem targeted Lesnar's body instead of his face so that he had a wider target to tee off on. Overeem then landed a devastating knee to the body from the clinch, that left Lesnar out of gas and in sheer pain. As soon as the pair separated, Overeem landed another nasty blow, this time with a perfectly timed shin that landed clean on Brock's liver, leaving him damaged beyond repair as he scurried, trying to avoid further harm.
However, watching Lesnar go down on his knees, the relentless Overeem pounced on him like a fierce lion, landing a flurry of hammer fists which led to the referee having to step in to spare Lesnar from further misery.
Overeem had well and truly arrived
As Lesnar lay on the mat, groaning in pain, the crowd went crazy. They were left awestruck at the dominating manner of Overeem's victory against a former champion on his debut. That night marked the arrival of Alistair Overeem in the UFC, and he made all fighters in the division sit up and take notice. Overeem has enjoyed a hell of a career at UFC since then, running through almost everyone in the heavyweight division in the UFC.
In his quest to conquer the championship gold which is the only thing he has left to conquer, Overeem meets Rozenstruik at UFC on ESPN 7 and he would certainly love to add another skull to his collection.
