MMA news roundup: UFC heavyweight title picture, St. Preux vs. Mousasi, Pro's pick for UFC 135
by Hubert Lau on September 20, 2011

The winner of the Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 will be next in line for a title shot according to mmaweekly.com.

“I’m excited to see what Alistair Overeem has. And people can yap and say whatever they want, when these guys come over to the UFC, it’s a whole other ballgame. It’s going to be a really good gauge to find out where Alistair really sits in the heavyweight division,” UFC president, Dana White, said.

This will be Lesnar's first fight after recovering from a second case of diverticulitis which has sidelined him for the majority of 2011, his last bout was a TKO loss against Cain Velasquez in late 2010 that also cost him his UFC heavyweight title.

Overeem's fight with Lesnar will hopefully be his first of many bouts as he finally tests himself in the UFC's heavyweight proving grounds. Overeem previously fought for Strikeforce and was a part of the recent heavyweight grand prix, defeating Fabricio Werdum in the quarterfinal round, before exiting due to an injury.

This fight represents two contrasting styles, Overeem's striking versus Lesnar's wrestling and the outcome might very well be determined by takedowns. It is no secret that Lesnar's chances of victory rest with his bread-and-butter wrestling. Takedowns from Lesnar might be able to negate any offense from Overeem; an inability to do so might be a detrimental repeat scenario akin to his bout with Velasquez.

UFC 141 is expected to be headlined by the Lesnar vs. Overeem fight with another bout pitting Jon Fitch and Johny Hendricks also targeted for the event. UFC 141 is scheduled for December 30 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ovince St. Preux is set to face Gegard Mousasi at a December 17 Strikeforce event according to bloodyelbow.com.

St. Preux was the first to announce his desire to fight Mousasi last month and the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion has agreed.

St. Preux has been on a roll as of late, winning eight straight bouts. His last fight was against Joe Cason at Strikeforce Challengers: Bowling vs. Voelker III which he won via TKO in the very first round.

Mousasi last saw action against Hiroshi Izumi at Dream and defended his Dream light heavyweight title by routing Izumi in the first round via TKO. His last outing in Strikeforce was a controversial bout against former UFC stable, Keith Jardine. Despite out striking Jardine for the majority of the fight, the end result was a controversial majority draw.

The event will continue to build in the near future but an expected headliner is between Strikeforce lightweight champion, Gilbert Melendez, defending his title against Jorge Masvidal.

Rashad Evans, Frank Mir, Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz, Maurico Rua and Vinicius Magalhaes weigh in on the UFC 135 headliner between Jon Jones and Quinton Jackson according to mmamania.com.

"I think that Jon Jones uses his range and his speed to keep Rampage off balance and at the same time using his ability to take Rampage down to try to impose some of his will. I think Jon tries to get it done, I think he does it standing up," Evans said.

On paper it would seem that Jones holds the advantage. Not only does Jones sport an 84.5 inch reach, he also...

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