4 Main Card Predictions For UFC On Fox 13

3. Alistair Overeem vs. Stefan Struve

Weight Class: Heavyweight First off, Stefan Struve (25€“6) needs to make it to the octagon safely. We say that in all seriousness, and wish him well. Struve last fought in March 2013, losing to Mark Hunt in a fight that left him with a broken jaw. He has dealt with a lot since then: the jaw, infection, the loss of his father, and heart troubles including an enlarged heart and other issues that kept him away from the sport over a year. In July at UFC 175, the plan was that Struve would be on the main card against Matt Mitrione, but a fainting spell and an elevated heartbeat saw the fight cancelled just before it was set to go down. Now, Struve is making another try at returning when many suggested he call it a career. At 26, he has had over 30 career fights, and suffered some serious knockouts. With questions about his health and chin, Alistair Overeem (37€“14 (1)) seems like a bad match-up on paper. Overeem, however, has had troubles of his own lately, and is 1-3 in his last four fights. After failing a drug test required by his conditional fight license following his win over Brock Lesnar in 2011 (which was allowed to stay a win by the NSAC), he has lost to Antonio Silva, Travis Browne, and Ben Rothwell, with his lone win being against Frank Mir, in a three-round decision where he was heavily criticized for not finishing his opponent. A loss here could send Overeem packing from the UFC. As much as fans like seeing him knocked out, he has lost all value as far as being a headliner is concerned at this point. Worse, he has a huge price tag attached to him. Even in defeat, he will earn over $250,000; a win takes him to the $400,000 range. Who takes this? We like Struve, but this is, as mentioned, a bad match-up. Struve will have the height and reach advantage as always, but he's never really shown that he can properly utilize it. Worse, he has a history of being knocked out by shorter guys - and Overeem isn't even that much smaller than him. It's unlikely Struve can get the big man down, either. His best hope is to tire Overeem out, but that will be a risky game. Overeem by KO in the first.