Alistair Overeem scraped by Fabricio Werdum to win by majority decision in the co-main event of UFC 213.
Finally, Fabricio Werdum stepped inside the octagon again at UFC 213. The #1 ranked heavyweight contender hadn’t fought in almost ten months, when he dominated Travis Browne in their rematch at UFC 203. Two cancelled bouts against Cain Velasquez and Ben Rothwell meant a lot of time out of action for ‘Vai Cavalo.’
Alistair Overeem rebounded well after being knocked out by Stipe Miocic that very night at UFC 203 in Cleveland, as ‘The Reem’ became one of the few men to knock out Mark Hunt at UFC 209 with a vicious series of knees, earning him a performance of the night bonus.
That brought us to UFC 213 on Saturday.
The rubber match began with Werdum attempting the same flying side kick he did in the opening to his last fight with Travis Browne. Both men seemed to be freezing up in front of each other as they tried to suss out each others strategies.
With little significant strikes being landed between the two men, it was clear Overeem tried to force Werdum into being the aggressor, and feed off this by landing counter strikes. A hard lead uppercut and knee to the body seemed to stagger ‘Vai Cavalo’ for a brief moment.
Werdum picked up the pace in the third round, as his volume of strikes increased. He then dropped Overeem with a hard knee, after pulling guard ‘Vai Cavalo’ tried to secure a guillotine choke but Overeem managed to break free.
It was clear that Overeem had won the second round, and Werdum had dominated the third. But it was the first round that was open to interpretation and made this fight a tough one to call.
Alistair Overeem def. Fabricio Werdum via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
