Alistair Overeem underestimated the power and striking of “Bigfoot” Silva and it cost him dearly. Antonio Silva turned the tables on the world class striker just 25 seconds into the final frame landing a flurry of power shots that resulted in a referee stoppage and a TKO victory.
Alistair Overeem paced himself in the first round, picking his spots to land with his right hand before clinching and delivering knees up the middle. Silva looked to counter but seemed to be a step too slow as Overeem easily avoided the big punches of Silva. Overeem gained even more confidence as the round wore on closing the distance with his hands completely down before firing off his powerful leg kicks and knees.
Silva came out firing in the second, landing a stiff leg kick, but it was the counter punching of Overeem that was even more effective as he fired off a laser-straight left hand down the middle. Overeem then connected with a right hand that forced Silva to clinch. Overeem took the fight to the mat from there, landing in side control.
Silva managed to retain his guard and land some elbows from his back, but Overeem then went to work with big shots to the body. Silva remained busy from his back but could not shake the top control of Overeem. However after a stall in the action, referee Herb Dean stood both fighters back up. Silva then landed his most significant strikes, landing a short right hand, then catching Overeem up the middle with a stiff knee as time ran out on the second stanza.
The third round started with Overeem coming forward clinching. Then Silva then went to work.
Silva stunned Overeem with a knee up the middle, then followed up with a crushing right hand that sent Overeem reeling backward. Silva kept coming, peppering Overeem with right hands. As Overeem leaned on the cage, the punches kept coming as Silva fired off two monster uppercuts, then put together a flurry of strikes that ended the fight in stunning fashion.
The TKO victory improves Antonio Silva to 18-4 overall (2-1 UFC), while Overeem falls to 36-12 (1-1 UFC).