UFC 141- Battle of the giants | Thebigtip

Two of the biggest heavyweights in UFC history will come face-to-face on Friday night. 266 lbs Brock Lesnar matches up against 263 lbs Alistair Overeem, in what will be the Dutchman’s much anticipated UFC debut. The 31 year-old has a wealth of experience within the sport with over 40 fights; many coming as a light-heavyweight.

In stark contrast, Lesnar will only be making his eighth professional MMA outing and the former WWE wrestler is coming off a TKO loss to Cain Velasquez.

The 34 year-old will be stepping into the octagon for the first time since recovering from a potentially life-threatening case of diverticulitis. Lesnar required a second operation in a year in which a foot of his colon was removed.

The NCAA division 1 wrestler now believes he is back to full fitness and ready to tackle the destructive striker, Lesnar stated: “I am just blessed to have come through a career threatening injury as I did, and I feel that on Friday night you will see the best Brock Lesnar”.

Stylistically, there are very few better match-ups within the UFC roster. This is a traditional striker VS wrestler bout, with both fighters being role models for their respective disciplines.

The winner of this fight will be next in line to challenge Brazilian champion Junior Dos Santos for his UFC belt.

Overeem will be sure to try to keep the fight standing and use all of the striking weapons in his arsenal to dismantle and derail Lesnar.

Lesnar will look to bully Overeem, using his weight advantage and utilising his superior grappling skills.

With the power and striking prowess that will be on display in this match-up, it is no wonder that bookmakers’ have given odds of 8/1 for the fight to go the distance.

In the co-main event of the evening loud-mouthed grappler Nate Diaz will be taking on destructive kickboxer Donald Cerrone.

The build-up to this fight has been dominated with both fighters displaying a dislike for one another. This rivalry was rumoured to be started when Cerrone approached Diaz in a gym two months ago to introduce himself, however the Stockton native rejected Cerrone’s effort to strike up friendship and later stated: “Before this fight was even announced I knew that I would eventually be fighting Cerrone, I have made the mistake before of befriending people that I would then go on to face and I do not want to make that mistake again”.

Fuel was added to the fire at Wednesday’s press conference when the two squared off against each other, words were exchanged which then resulted in Diaz flicking Cerrone’s hat off of his head.

Come Friday night the audience will almost certainly be treated to a great spectacle, with two of the most talented lightweights in the UFC attempting to move one step closer to a title fight.

Cerrone has been fighting in the UFC for less than a year, however the ‘Cowboy’ has moved to new heights since his arrival in the world’s premiere organisation. Cerrone has a UFC record that currently stands at 4-0, with impressive finishes in his last two fights over Dennis Siver and Charles Oliveira.

Diaz has also enjoyed a new lease of life having recently moved from welterweight to lightweight, the Jiu-Jitsu brown belt arguably put on the greatest performance of his career in his last outing, finishing dangerous Japanese striker Takanori Gomi.

Main card predictions:

Overeem

Cerrone

Fitch

Gustafsson

Phan