Photo/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesLAS VEGAS -- For Alistair Overeem, UFC 141 on Friday night served as a welcome party. For his opponent, Brock Lesnar, it was a retirement party.
The 31-year-old Overeem, who has not suffered a defeat in four years, shined in his UFC debut, winning by TKO over Lesnar in the first round, sending the former UFC heavyweight champion into retirement.
"I just wanted to show the world that I'm ready, and that I'm coming," said Overeem, who improves to 36-11 with the victory.
Lesnar cut Overeem early in the fight with a jab, and then attempted a single leg, but was unable to finish. A short time later, Overeem landed two solid knees to Lesnar's midsection. From that point on, it was all Overeem. He overwhelmed Lesnar with more knees to the midsection, and eventually landed a kick that sent Lesnar to the canvas. Overeem followed the kick up with a barrage of punches before referee Mario Yamasaki stepped in and called the fight at 2:26 of the opening round.
"Demolition Man" is now in line for a title shot against UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Antos.
"I think everybody is excited for this fight, and so am I," said Overeem.
Dos Santos is recovering from a knee injury and no timetable has been set for a dos Santos-Overeem fight. So when would Overeem like the fight to happen?
"First I would like to have nice long holiday, arrange some stuff, get my stuff in order because there's still some work to do. I don't know ... Maybe before the summer or in the summer [of] 2012."
Lesnar, who had not fought in 14 months because of health problems, was gracious in defeat and had some parting words for the 12,158 fans that filled MGM Grand Garden Arena.
"I'm going to officially say tonight is the last time you'll see me in the Octagon," said Lesnar, who fell to 5-3 with the loss. "I want to thank everyone. Brock Lesnar is officially retired."
Diaz impressive in victory over Cerrone
Photo/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesNate Diaz put a halt to Donald Cerrone's six-fight winning streak in Friday's co-main event, winning by unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28, in an action-filled fight that earned Fight of the Night.
"That was exactly the fight that I thought it was going to be," said UFC president Dana White. "They went out and both went toe-to-toe. It's one of those situations where there is always going to be a winner and a loser, but you end up respecting both guys because of who they are and how they do it."
Diaz was dominant in the standup game, landing 258 strikes against only 66, according to statistics from Compustrike. Cerrone was effective with leg strikes, landing 31 of 49 kicks, and dropped Diaz on multiple occasions. But Diaz proved to be too much. He was aggressive and accurate all night.
Hendricks knocks out Fitch in 12 seconds
Photo/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesJohny Hendricks told his camp on Wednesday that he was going to hit Jon Fitch as hard as he can and see where he falls. That is exactly what he did on Friday night. Hendricks landed a devastating left that dropped Fitch and forced referee Steve Mazzagatti to stop the fight in 12 seconds.
With the victory, Hendricks improves to 12-1.
"The media said that I had no chance," said Hendricks, who won two NCAA titles as a wrestler at Oklahoma State. "They said I no chance. I told them since it first started I at least had a puncher's chance. The good Lord blessed me with a left hand and I was going to put it on him."
Hendricks entered the fight ranked eighth, and Fitch second, in the InterMatFight welterweight rankings. With UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre out for six to nine months, Carlos Condit will face Nick Diaz on Feb. 4 for the interim title in the welterweight division. It remains to be seen who Hendricks will fight next, but he hopes his performance on Friday night will put him in line for a title fight.
"I think I belong where I'm at now," said Hendricks. "I just beat the No. 2-ranked guy. GSP couldn't do it in five rounds. B.J. Penn couldn't do it ... I just knocked the No. 2-ranked guy out in 12 seconds. Where does that put me? Hopefully [in line] for a title [shot]. But if it doesn't I'm going to have to go out there and prove it again."
Gustafsson overwhelms Matyushenko
Photo/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesAlexander Gustafsson continued his ascent in the UFC light heavyweight division with first-round TKO over Vladimir Matyushenko.
A Gustafsson left jab sent Matyushenko to the canvas. Gustafsson then pounced on Matyushenko and landed strikes until referee Yves Lavigne stepped in and called the fight at 2:13 of the first round.
It marked the fourth straight win in the UFC for Gustafsson, who entered the fight ranked 11th in the InterMatFight light heavyweight rankings.
Gustafsson's name has been mentioned as potential opponent down the road for UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. But Gustafsson thinks that talk is a bit premature.
"I think it's too early for that," said Gustafsson. "I just want to take it one fight at a time and win my fights. I just want to climb the rankings."
The UFC has its Fuel TV 2 event planned for April 14 in Gustafsson's home country of Sweden. The fights have not been finalized, but Gustafsson hopes to be on the card.
"That would be awesome," said Gustafsson of the possibility of fighting in Sweden. "I can't wait for that."
Hettes dominates to improve to 10-0
Photo/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesJim Hettes showed why he was on the UFC 141 main card with his one-sided, unanimous decision victory over Nam Phan at featherweight.
Hettes, who goes by the nickname "The Kid," spent most of the fight in a dominant position and landed a barrage of strikes, but was unable to finish Phan.
"I was wondering what it takes to put Nam Phan away," said the 24-year-old Hettes, who is now 10-0. "I was giving him all I could. All that went through my head was watching Brock Lesnar versus Shane Carwin fight, and the last thing I wanted to do was gas out and have Phan get top position or possibly end the fight."
Dana White was impressed with Hettes' performance.
"I'm going to be honest with you, tonight's the first night I really noticed this kid," said White. "It's pretty awesome to see a jiu-jitsu kid who punches ... When something doesn't work, he moves somewhere else. You guys have heard me talk a lot about the new breed that's coming up and how they train differently and how they're … There you go. There's one of them right there. That kid is nasty. I love watching him fight."
Pearson, Castillo, Kim, Volkmann win on undercard
The winners on the UFC 141 undercard included Ross Pearson, Danny Castillo, Dong Hyun Kim, and Jacob Volkmann.
Pearson won by unanimous decision over Junior Assuncao.
Castillo won a split decision over Anthony Njokuani.
Kim won by unanimous decision over Sean Pierson.
Volkmann won by unanimous decision over Efrain Escudero.
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