Alistar Overeem beat Fabricio Werdum in Dallas Saturday evening as part of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. The fight was a major disappointment because of Werdum’s strategy. Werdum tried to take the fight to the ground and tried to do it anyway possible — by going for takedowns, by flopping, or just by laying on the ground and begging Overeem to join him. Because of that, the fight was extremely boring and it resulted in a unanimous win for Overeem.
Overeem expressed his disappointment with Werdum’s performance, telling Fighter’s Only Magazine “It takes two to tango. I’m disappointed but I think Fabricio should be ashamed of his performance. Looking back on the fight, I don’t believe he came to fight and he was stalling a lot.”
“I’m just a little but frustrated he didn’t try do more in his stand up,” The Reem continued. “Because then it would have been a far more interesting fight and probably a knockout.”
On Monday, Overeem said more of the same to The MMA Hour. Overeem explained he understood Werdum’s strategy was to try to lure him to the ground using any method possible. Asked about the strikes Werdum landed, he responded. “I’m not impressed with his striking,” Overeem said. “He does not hit hard. He was using his strikes to set up his takedowns, but there was no damage. I was annoyed. … When you look at a fight, who’s more dominant? You can see who’s more dominant.”
It’s hard to disagree with the way each man approached the fight. Werdum tried to do anything possible to take it to the ground while Overeem tried to avoid joining him on the mat. Still, Werdum is the reason the fight was so boring and disappointing. He threw limp punches and just laid on the mat on several occasions. His strategy was wise, but he did not employ it respectfully.
