• UFC 141

Overeem hammers Lesnar into UFC retirement

ESPN staff
December 31, 2011
Just like his loss to Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar got destroyed by Alistair Overeem on his feet at UFC 141 © Getty Images
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Alistair Overeem stayed true to his promise and annihilated Brock Lesnar inside a round at UFC 141, but his outstanding UFC debut was instantly overshadowed by the retirement of the former champion.

Lesnar, ending a 14-month absence following an extremely serious bout of diverticulitis, returned to the Octagon with the aim of earning a second crack at the heavyweight championship, which he previously owned when beating Randy Couture. However, just as he did when losing the belt to Cain Velasquez, Lesnar looked woefully out of his depth when forced to strike with Overeem, who scythed his opponent in half with a crunching body kick to end the fight at 2.26 of the first round.

"My hat's off to Alistair Overeem, I've had a really difficult couple of years with my disease. Tonight was the last time you'll see me in the Octagon," Lesnar confirmed. "I want to thank the Fertittas, Dana White, this is officially Brock Lesnar's last fight.

"I said to my wife if I won I'd fight for the title, and then that would be my last fight. This is it."

Once a wrecking machine that charged out of the blocks at the likes of Heath Herring and Frank Mir, Lesnar looked timid and nervous against Overeem. Only once did he grab for a single-leg, when Overeem threw a kick, and when that failed Lesnar seemed all too ready to stand with one of the best kickboxers in the business.

Overeem, a veteran of the game at the still-young age of 31, closed the distance and began landing those devastating knees. Twice Lesnar pushed him off, but there was no offence from the former WWE star, who seemed to accept his fate. A crunching body kick almost cut him in half, and then Overeem forced the stoppage with another body shot on the mat to set up a title shot of his own against Junior Dos Santos next year.

"Today was all about bad intentions, first round as I promised," said Overeem. "I trained takedown defence a lot, I stepped up my game. Junior Dos Santos is next, I promise you that."

The night's co-main event lived up to all expectations as Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone turned in one of the fights of the year, although it never quite felt like a contest fought on an even footing as Diaz dished out a boxing clinic for a 30-27 30-27 29-28 decision victory. Fuelled with bad blood prior to the bout, neither man touched gloves before the opening bell, but Diaz certainly put plenty of glove on Cerrone's face as he battered his way into lightweight title contention.

The opening round was a re-run of Diaz v Takanori Gomi, with the Stockton brawler landing nearly everything he threw. Combinations came in twos, threes and fours, landing to the body and head, sending Cerrone back to the corner bloodied and unable to close his jaw.

Having won his previous four fights in 2011 Cerrone was always capable of turning the tide, and he threatened to do so in the second, dropping Diaz five times with leg kicks. A head kick also floored Diaz but Cerrone simultaneously lost balance, handing his opponent time to get back to his feet. All this came in bursts between more Diaz onslaughts though and by the start of the third he was aiming the middle finger in Cerrone's direction.

Now ultra-confident, Diaz dropped his hands arrogantly before peppering the target, and when Cerrone did find success - dropping his foe twice more with leg kicks - the Cowboy seemed reluctant to go to ground in order to try and finish the fight. For once it was Cerrone who finished second best, and Diaz can expect title eliminators in 2012.

Jon Fitch was stunned by Johny Hendricks © Getty Images
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"I got great training partners like Gil Melendez, Nick Diaz, Jake Shields... I got poked in the eye with the fist a couple of times, sorry to Donald for all the sh*t than went down before the fight," Diaz said.

Shock of the night came in the welterweight division, where Johny Hendricks needed all of 12 seconds to knock out Jon Fitch. Widely considered to be the No. 2 welterweight in the world, Fitch has long been at odds with the UFC, insisting he deserves a second crack at the title having lost only once in 15 previous UFC bouts.

However, president Dana White - never a fan of Fitch's grinding, unattractive style - told the AKA man he needed a reality check, and that is exactly what Hendricks delivered with a straight left hand followed by one to a grounded Fitch that forced the instant stoppage by referee Steve Mazzagatti.

England's Ross Pearson made a successful splash on his featherweight debut, coming through some tough spots to earn a 29-28 29-28 30-27 decision over Junior Assuncao. Having arguably lost the first round and won the second, Pearson had to survive early submission attempts in the third before landing a large enough volume of strikes to edge past the tricky Brazilian.

In the light-heavyweight division, Alexander Gustafsson blasted his way towards UFC title contention with an unbelievably simple TKO victory at 2.13 of the first round against Vladimir Matyushenko. The 24-year-old Swede, tipped for big things, opened up with two snapping front kicks, and when Matyushenko continued to stand with the 6ft 5 striker he walked straight onto a jab that sparked the end, with Gustafsson becoming only the second man to beat the veteran inside the Octagon.

The main card kicked off with the true announcement of the arrival of Jimy Hettes in the UFC featherweight division, after the 24-year-old utterly dominated Nam Phan for a 30-25 30-25 30-26 unanimous decision. Displaying superb technical judo to consistently put Phan on his back, Hettes pounded away on his rival - bloodying him and threatening with guillotines and armbars for a 10-8 first round, and that set the pattern for the rest of the fight as Phan hung in courageously.

UFC 141 results:
Alistair Overeem def. Brock Lesnar via first-round TKO
Nate Diaz def. Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision
Johny Hendricks def. Jon Fitch via first-round KO
Alexander Gustafsson def. Vladimir Matyushenko via first-round TKO
Jimy Hettes def. Nam Phan via unanimous decision
Ross Pearson def. Junior Assuncao via unanimous decision
Danny Castillo def. Anthony Njokuani via split decision
Dong Hyun Kim def. Sean Pierson via unanimous decision
Jacob Volkmann def. Efrain Escudero via unanimous decision
Diego Nunes def. Manvel Gamburyan via unanimous decision
Riddle vs. Ramos fight called off due to Riddle suffering illness

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