Alistair Overeem And Johny Hendricks Looking For Title Shots After UFC 185
UFC hoped to follow up on it's successful 2015 PPV run with another at UFC 185. Headlined by two title fights, the event featured an unusually stacked undercard as well. Marquee names like Alistair Overeem, Johny Hendricks and Olympic Gold Medalist Henry Cejudo supported the two title fights, leading to an impressive main card.
Alistair Overeem impressed, outpointing Roy Nelson over the course of three rounds. Overeem employed the blueprint traditionally used to defeat Nelson, keeping distance and working strikes. Overeem looked much better than he was a year ago, utilizing strategy and game plan.
Overeem has been training with the likes of Jon Jones, and it showed. Throughout the fight, Overeem scored with over a dozen knees, in addition to eliptical kicks. Overeem was much more mobile than in previous fights, and was largely dominant. Nelson did manage to land a big shot in the third round, but couldn't follow up. Nelson moves to 0-7 against top 10 UFC heavyweights. After the bout, Overeem made it clear that he was gunning for the UFC Heavyweight Title.
Former UFC Welterweight Champion put on an equally impressive but less exciting performance in a three round domination of #5-ranked Matt Brown. The story of the fight was Hendricks' wrestling and improved conditioning, both of which looked worlds better than the 2014 version of Johny Hendricks we saw skating by on pure ability.
Matt Brown had no answer for the takedown, and continues to struggle in big fights. After the fight, Johny Hendricks called out both Rory MacDonald and Robbie Lawler, saying he wanted the winner of their upcoming championship fight.
Elsewhere on the card, Olympic Gold Medalist Henry Cejudo looked phenomenal in his fight with former UFC title challenger Chris Cariaso. Cejudo controlled the duration of the fight with his incredible wrestling and impressive boxing. He also mixed it up with several body kicks on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
The preliminary fighters didn't go unnoticed either, as Ross Pearson and Beneil Dariush got performance bonuses of $50,000 for their impressive finishes. New world champions Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Rafael dos Anjos earned the remaining bonuses.