Another weekend of fisticuffs has come and gone as UFC Fight Night 26 blew the roof off the TD Garden last Saturday night (Aug. 17, 2013) in Boston, Massachusetts (full results and recap here).
Many combatants were left licking their wounds after a wild night of fights, including Uriah Hall, who came up short on the judges' scorecards against John Howard (read about it here). And Mauricio Rua, who dropped his second straight after he was forced to tap to Chael Sonnen in round one (highlights here).
But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover now two days removed from the show?
"Demolition Man" was knocked out in the first round by Travis Browne (watch it here) after the former K-1 kickboxing champ failed to put away the Hawaiian in the opening seconds with his relentless striking attack that nearly spelled the end for Travis.
Nearly.
"Hapa" managed to shake off the cobwebs and deliver a front kick to "Reem's" face that would have made Anderson Silva (and Steven Seagal) proud, then followed up with some bombs to end the job. The ensuing loss gave Alistair his second straight defeat inside the Octagon, and perhaps even put his future with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in jeopardy.
So, what went wrong for Overeem?
A failure to adjust.
Browne was telegraphing the front kick a mile away, connecting with it repeatedly before landing the coup de grace. Perhaps it was the adrenaline dump "Reem" suffered after an onslaught of punches and knees earlier in the fight that had his senses all in a funk, but the striking Dutchman's defense was completely gone.
And because of it, the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion will go all the way to the back of the 265-pound line, back to the drawing board, and back to basics... again.
Even UFC President Dana White doesn't know what to do with him.
While some don't think he'll have another fight under the UFC umbrella, seeing as how he's gone zero for two since his debut win against Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 (coupled with his not-so-cheap price tag), I believe he'll get another crack inside the cage.
And it should be against Gabriel Gonzaga.
Sure, "Napao" isn't exactly making headlines and isn't a top-10 ranked fighter, but then again, Overeem isn't deserving of a big-name opponent for his next fight. While I personally believe "Reem" is far from done in mixed martial arts (MMA), a potential victory against Gonzaga could be just what he needs to get his confidence back.
But, as we saw Saturday night, there's no such thing as a guaranteed win in MMA.