Alistair Overeem notched the 45th win of his career with a first-round TKO over Alexey Oleynik. It was a great showing by Overeem. While it may still take a couple more wins under his belt before we can officially call him a contender again, he is absolutely back on his way. If he can put together a few good wins in a row then he can get back in the title mix.
Who puts him in line to do just that? Here are three potential opponents for “Ubereem.”
Overeem’s clinch is still lethal – first-round TKO over Oleynik pic.twitter.com/g4uYXSYRQ6
— Round By Round MMA (@rbrmma) April 20, 2019
Derrick Lewis
Derrick Lewis (21-7) is coming off back-to-back losses, but it’s understandable. It’s a tough ask of anyone to defeat both Daniel Cormier and Junior Dos Santos. Lewis is still considered a top five Heavyweight and makes for a perfect fight for Overeem.
At the age of 34, Lewis still has a few holes in his game. Overeem might be able to exploit them. A matchup between these two bohemians would be must-watch television.
Marcin Tybura
Although Marcin Tybura (17-5) isn’t exactly the type of fighter that could vault Overeem to a title shot, he is solid enough to test him. Tybura has a solid overall game as he is efficient everywhere. He is coming off a disappointing loss on the undercard against Shamil Abdurakhimov.
So why does it make sense to pair these two up? It’s all about building Overeem up first before simply putting him back in the lions den. If Overeem can get past Tybura, it would be another good stepping stone on his way to one more title shot.
Curtis Blaydes
When Curtis Blaydes (11-2) and Alisair Overeem matched up in 2018, it was one traffic. Blaydes dominated the action. It was a bad look for Overeem. So Blaydes would still be considered a favorite but Overeem has looked good in his past two fights.
Another crack at Blaydes gives Overeem some redemption before continuing to move forward.
