UFC Free Pick: Alistair Overeem vs. Walt Harris

#24051 Alistair Overeem +120 (Saturday, May 16 @ 11 pm EST)

UFC Fight Night: Alistair Overeem at Walt Harris get after it in the Main Event on Saturday night. It will be the third UFC event in eight days with the next event not until May 30th.

Overeem is coming off a brutal knockout loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik thanks to one of the most vicious knockout punches in history. Rozenstruik put Overeem to sleep with just four seconds left in a five-round bout. A right hook so hard that Overeem’s lip was busted clean up to his nose.

Overeem has fought some of the biggest names in UFC history. His last five losses have come to Rozenstruik, Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes, Stipe Miocic and Beth Rothwell. It has taken an elite finisher to put an end to Overeem, who doesn’t lose to weak competition.

When you look at Overeem’s wins, they also have some big names attached to them. He has victories against Aleksei Oleinik, Fabricio Werdum, Mark Hunt, Andrei Arlovski, Junior dos Santos, Roy Nelson and Frank Mir (remember, he is 39-years old). 12 of Overeem’s last 15 fights have ended in knockout either way, which is likely the case again in this fight.

Harris has gone over 300 days since his last fight, for unfortunate reasons. Harris’ stepdaughter Aniah Blanchard was murdered less than a year ago. After taking some time off to be with family, Harris said he is ready to return to the UFC and continue his career in honor of his stepdaughter. Harris is currently on a four-fight win streak.

He hasn’t had the high-profile schedule that Overeem has had. He does have wins against Oleinik and Arlovski, but not much outside of that. This will be the biggest fight of Harris’ career. Coming off the tragedy that he has had to endure, Harris may have an extra jolt of adrenaline on his side.

Overeem has the three-inch reach advantage in this fight. However, he is a somewhat surprising underdog in this fight, sitting around +120 at most books. While he is 39-years old, Harris isn’t far behind at 36. Overeem was winning that Rozenstruik fight until the final five seconds, so don’t let that knockout scare you from taking him in this fight. Expect one hell of a brawl in this fight, but the right side is likely on Overeem here at plus money.