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Monstrously Solid: Overeem vs. Teixeira

Quarterfinal: Alistair Overeem vs. Ewerton Teixeira

This match was decided by default, as the only open slot left for Overeem to take at the draw was beside the dreadlocked karate fighter. It was truly a match meant to be though, as I heard after the Final 16 from Ewerton that if he had the choice he was going to be selecting Overeem. And, the following day at the draw, Alistair confessed to having had a dream the night before that he would be facing the Brazilian.

Since being knocked out by Teixeira's senior, Glaube Feitosa, way back in 2004, Overeem had steered clear of stand-up fights and put his focus on MMA. After "Bad Boy" Badr Hari had some choice words about MMA fighters "hugging and kissing" rather than fighting at DREAM 6, Overeem decided to lace up the gloves and teach him a little humility and respect, and defend the sport he loves. Despite the fact that most experts picked Hari to be the teacher, he was given a lesson in pain by Alistair and brutally knocked out in less than a round. That set up a fight with the current WGP Champion, Remy Bonjasky. In this fight Alistair held his own against Remy, and did land several decent shots. In the final round he took one too many risks, and paid for it by tasting the canvas, and losing the judges decision.

Alistair was then voted number 1 by the fans to be given a spot at the Opening Round in Korea. He was set to fight Mr. K-1 himself, Peter Aerts. Not unlike when he fought Badr, most of the experts out there were of the opinion that Aerts' experience was far too much for the fellow Dutchman to handle. Not only did he handle it, but he totally man-handled Aerts in the process. The domination was complete for the full 3 rounds, and for any long-time fan of the sport, it was quite difficult to watch.

The consensus among fans was that Ewerton's fight on the same card was the dud of the night. To this day I am still unsure as to whether Ewerton just couldn't find his rhythm like he said later, or that Jaideep was significantly more skilled than everyone gave him credit for. Perhaps it was a combination of both. One thing I do know is that Teixeira was not impressed with his fight either, and he has said that sort of fight won't happen again. Having said that, if the height of Jaideep was an issue, then he will want to have sorted it out by now as Overeem is the same height, and radically more muscular than the Indian.

One interesting thing about Ewerton that many people are either unaware of or overlook, is in the comparison between the veteran Francisco Filho and himself. Yes, they are the only two foreigners that earned the title of Kyokushin World Champion before entering K-1. The difference is that Filho had extensive training in preparation for his debut against the late Andy Hug, with some reports saying he trained for over a year just for that fight. Ewerton stepped off the karate mat, put on the gloves, and has been training on-the-go ever since. A little over a year later he now sports a record of 7-1 in K-1, with wins over veteran fighter Musashi, the current Heavyweight Champion Kyotaro, and the legend Jerome LeBanner. It makes you wonder how things may have differed if he too had taken a year to train for kickboxing before making his debut.

K-1 and HDNet commentator "The Voice" Michael Shiavello said that he thought this was the quarterfinal most difficult to pick. A look at the predictions on the WGP Special Homepage shows us not one person has picked Teixeira to overcome the human mountain that is Alistair Overeem. The Brazilin is the underdog in the eyes of many, yet he has also said that helps to motivate him. There is one factor that I see that plays right into his hands though:

Kyokushin fights tend to be aggressive and both fighters are constantly pushing forward. Overeem is extremely aggressive and just overwhelmed Aerts in their fight. He didn't really use the ring, or stick and move. He came directly at Aerts (and previous opponents) and he tends to attack in a straight line. Much like the hundreds, if not thousands of Kyokushin fighters that Teixeira has beaten in the past. This really works perfectly for the Brazilian and his natural style of fighting. The style he became World Champion of. Whether that will be enough to overcome the sheer size and power that Overeem brings to the table is what we will have to wait to see.

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Rob, Holland reporter (1964 posts)

Posted: 2009-11-26 at: 03:41

I like this matchup. But I'm not sure what to think of Teixeira. He's put on some boring fights, but he seems to get the job done. They're both big, strong and hard fighters. So to see these two fight each other might be quit entertaining. Plus it will give us another look at Overeem and see how he holds his own in an 8-man tournament.

Personally I think Overeem's agression will get him the win here, but he'll be more hurt than Badr after his slugfest with Karaev.

Simoyin (344 posts)

Posted: 2009-11-30 at: 05:37

This 'could' be the fight of the night, if the stars are aligned properly heh. Seriously, i think that Teixeira has the chance to really fuck Overeem up, even if he doesn't win. That could mean that Overeem gets weakened and will not fight so well after this fight, should he pull off a victory.

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Monstrously Solid: Overeem vs. Teixeira

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