Tag: UFC 141

On this date in MMA history, Alistair Overeem retired former UFC champ Brock Lesnar

Thirteen years ago today, Alistair Overeem’s precision striking and brutal knees ended Brock Lesnar’s UFC career.

Thirteen years ago, a former UFC champion made his final walk to the octagon.

At UFC 141 in 2011, [autotag]Alistair Overeem[/autotag] stopped former heavyweight champion [autotag]Brock Lesnar[/autotag] in a main event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The event’s poster touted the size of both men: Lesnar standing at 6-foot-3, 265 pounds, and Overeem 6-foot-5, 256 pounds. Needless to say, the fight wasn’t expected to last long, and it didn’t.

Overeem quickly took control of the center of the octagon, and patiently waited for Lesnar to present an opening. As Overeem pressured forward, Lesnar grabbed a single leg, but quickly let go when he felt resistance.

Soon, Overeem closed the distance and landed vicious knees to the body, putting Lesnar on high alert. Without rushing things, Overeem kept steady forward pressure, and then dug in more hard kicks and knees to the body of Lesnar, who returned to action after a severe bout with diverticulitis.

Overeem needed just 2:26 to take out Lesnar, and send him to retirement from fighting for nearly five years. Lesnar would make one more appearance at UFC 200 in 2016, and then permanently retire from fighting to resume his career in WWE.

You can watch the full fight in the video above, and don’t miss the best photos from the fight below.

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UFC 279 free fight: Nate Diaz flips off, beats up Donald Cerrone

Before UFC 279, relive one of Nate Diaz’s most vintage performances as he beat up and disrespected Donald Cerrone.

Middle fingers are part of [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag]’s repertoire, as was evidenced by the two he showed to [autotag]Donald Cerrone[/autotag] in between rounds during their clash at UFC 141.

The bout was the co-main event to Alistair Overeem’s TKO of Brock Lesnar, as part of a card that took place Dec. 30, 2011 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The bad blood was evident from the moment the pre-fight promotion began. At a pre-fight ceremonial faceoff, Diaz infamously smacked Cerrone’s cowboy hat off and shoved him.

When it came time to fight, the respect level continued its flatline. In between Round 2 and Round 3, Diaz flipped the double bird at Cerrone, who just received a massive pump-up speech from coach Greg Jackson. The double bird was a one-upped version of the single middle finger Cerrone had given him earlier in the fight.

As a whole, the fight was largely one-sided in Diaz’s favor. He cruised to an impressive 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 unanimous decision win over “Cowboy.”

Five years later, in 2015, Cerrone revealed he initiated a beef-squashing with the Diaz Brothers.

“I went up and talked to Nate and Nick, both of them,” Cerrone told MMA Junkie. “I said, ‘Hey, man, this sh*t has got to stop. We either have to figure it out, or figure it out.’ You know what I mean? They were like, ‘Cool, man.’”

Check out the full fight from UFC 141 above and check out the double middle finger flip below.

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