How will Junior dos Santos perform in the clinch?
That's one of the many burning questions UFC President Dana White is asking about his reigning heavyweight champion, who defends his 265-pound strap against Alistair Overeem at UFC 146 on May 26 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
"Sin City" is where "Cigano" will collide with the DREAM, K-1 and Strikeforce World Champion, who punched his ticket to a UFC title fight by tearing through Brock Lesnar like a tissue at a snot party.
"Demolition Man" is a world-class kickboxer known for his powerful knees and merciless clinch. The only problem is, he must first get close enough to the Brazilian to apply the plum -- and not get KTFO in the process. If he manages to wrangle Dos Santos, how will his opponent cope?
White asks that question (and a few more) at MMA Weekly, after the jump.
"For me, the question is how is Dos Santos going to deal with the kicks and the knees and the elbows? Since he’s been in the UFC, I’ve never seen him have to deal with that. It’s stuff that he’s going to have to deal with from Alistair Overeem. He’s fought a pretty one-dimensional fight, he’s fought very Chuck Liddell-like in that he’s great at defending the takedown, he drops bombs, he throws heavy punches, but he’s never dealt with anybody who’s going to throw kicks and knees and work in the clinch the way that Alistair Overeem does. I’m real curious to see how Junior Dos Santos is planning on dealing with that."
In his heyday, Liddell was ruling the 205-pound roost by knocking fools stiff with his overhand right. Most strikers (not named Quinton Jackson) couldn't go punch-for-punch and most wrestlers (not named Randy Couture) couldn't take him down.
That gave "The Iceman" the ability to implement his gameplan and work at his pace.
So too, has Dos Santos been able to set the tempo in recent fights. The hardest puncher (Shane Carwin) couldn't drop him and the best wrestler (Cain Velasquez) failed on two takedown attempts.
That leaves the clinch.
Anyone think "The Reem" is the man to get it done? Get a closer look at their upcoming title fight right here.