UFC 160: May 25, 2013 MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada UFC Heavyweight Contender Junior dos Santos (-245) Profile: Junior dos Santos (15-2) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155 in which he was thoroughly dominated and ended up losing the Heavyweight Title. Dos Santos had registered a second-round TKO of Frank Mir at UFC 146 last May to successfully defend his UFC heavyweight championship for the first time after upsetting Velasquez with a first-round KO at UFC on FOX 1 to earn the belt six months earlier. The 29-year-old Brazilian has just one other blemish on his career record, but that occurred more than five years ago in Brazil’s Mo Team League against a fighter he had previously beaten in Joaquim Ferreira. Dos Santos had won 10 bouts in a row following that first loss, with eight of those coming in the UFC. Of his nine career UFC fights, just three have gone the distance, with dos Santos earning unanimous decision wins over Roy Nelson (UFC 117) and Shane Carwin (UFC 131) before losing to Velasquez. UFC Heavyweight Contender Alistair Overeem (+185) Profile: One of the most dominant heavyweight fighters in recent years, Alistair Overeem (36-12, 1 No-Contest) was the last true Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, the Dream Heavyweight Champion, the prestigious 2010 K-1 heavyweight Grand Prix champion as well as being a veteran fighter of Pride and many other organizations at light heavyweight. The 32-year-old has nearly done it all, and since making the move to heavyweight, had become nearly unstoppable before losing to Antonio Silva in a shocking upset at UFC 156. In his organizational debut at UFC 141, Overeem disposed of former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar via TKO in under two-and-a-half minutes. Poised to take on dos Santos for the title at UFC 146, his plans for gold were thrown off the rails by a failed drug test. Overeem then spent a year away from the sport due to his inability to get licensed before returning and suffering the knockout loss to Silva. Now he finally gets his opportunity to fight dos Santos, even though it will likely be for No. 1 contender status instead of for the belt. Opening UFC 160 Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made the former champ dos Santos a solid -245 favorite (bet $245 to win $100) while Overeem opened as a +185 underdog (bet $100 to win $185) at Several Bookmakers sportsbook. Overeem made a huge mistake in underestimating Silva, one that cost him a title shot against Velasquez. He looked lethargic in the first two rounds against Bigfoot, showing no sense of urgency and seemingly sleepwalking toward a hopeful decision win. That fight obviously did not go according to his plan, and he looked rather uninterested during the bout. That should not be a problem here, as Overeem has previously called out dos Santos as an opponent he could expose and will now get the chance to do just that. If there is any positive that came out of the loss for dos Santos, it is that he demonstrated the perseverance of a champion and kept fighting for the full five rounds. He was shaken right away in the first round by Velasquez but managed to stay alive like a zombie that kept coming back for more. That looks to be the biggest difference between dos Santos and Overeem, heart and determination. Dos Santos promised Velasquez he would be back for his belt and will need to avoid overlooking Overeem, the same mistake his opponent made when he fought Silva. Overeem probably will not make the same mistake twice here, but he has even more to prove now sans PEDs.
