Alistair Overeem's greatest UFC hits

#1 Knocking out Junior Dos Santos in a grudge match (2015)

Overeem's knockout of Junior Dos Santos stands as his best win in the UFC

After his big win over Brock Lesnar, Overeem was pegged to face then-UFC Heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos for the gold in a match of arguably the two greatest strikers in the division. It was a fight everyone was looking forward to – but it wasn’t to be, as Overeem failed a drug test and was subsequently suspended for a year.

When he returned, Dos Santos was no longer champion following his loss to Cain Velasquez, and soon ‘The Reem’ would fall down the Heavyweight ladder too, dropping big fights to Antonio Silva, Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell, all by knockout. But despite both men’s issues, the appetite for a fight between the two never waned.

The UFC finally matched them together at the end of 2015 in what turned out to be a major grudge match, given their history. Strangely enough though, the first round failed to live up to the hype entirely; both men seemed concerned about the other’s striking power and simply stayed way too far out of range, turning the fight into a staring contest.

That changed in the second round; after a brief flurry from Dos Santos, ‘The Reem’ circled out and reset, before catching him cleanly with probably the greatest punch of his entire career – a picture-perfect left haymaker that knocked the Brazilian silly. ‘Cigano’ attempted to get up, but had no legs under him and some hammer fists to the head from Overeem sealed the deal.

Not only did the fight net the Dutchman a new, big-money contract with the UFC, but it also saved his reputation – no longer was he considered a UFC bust – and gave him probably the biggest win of his MMA career to date.