Fortunes changed for five at UFC Fight Night 87

There’s a new doctrine for those paying attention to UFC post-fight interviews. It’s not exactly, “Ask and ye shall receive,” but it’s closer to “Ask and your chances of receiving increase greatly.” On Sunday, Alistair Overeem, fresh from fourth win in a row, asked for the winner of this coming Saturday’s Fabricio Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic fight for the heavyweight title. He went on to say he’d like the fight in November, in Madison Square Garden, and then to make his first title defense on a show next year in Amsterdam, Holland, where he grew up. He may not get all of that, but in the battle for the next title shot between Overeem and Cain Velasquez, Overeem (41-14, 1 no contest) strongly helped his cause. Overeem defeated a former champion, Andrei Arlovski, with a TKO finish. In a sport where luck and timing are game changers, a top contender getting an impressive win one week before the title is defended is a lot better timing than fighting and possibly winning eight weeks later, which is the best Velasquez would have to offer. Overeem also, in the post-fight press conference, pushed the line that he’s got the best shot at a title win. While Velasquez’s overall record against top tier competition is superior, Werdum did beat him, and Overeem does have a win over Werdum. If the winner of the Werdum vs. Miocic fight comes in unscathed, UFC will be likely looking at booking them in a fight they can announce at some point sooner than two months from now. If Velasquez, the former champion who had a title shot but lost it due to needing back surgery, was to be considered, UFC would have to put all decisions on hold until after UFC 200. That’s when Velasquez next fights, against Travis Browne. With that timetable, Overeem is currently in the front of the line. And by talking, he reminded everyone of it. Overeem makes the third fighter in recent weeks, Glover Teixeira and Michael Chiesa being the other two, to have asked for a specific match that is the most beneficial one to their career, and then getting it. Teixeira vs. Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, with the winner becoming top contender for the light heavyweight title, scheduled for the July 23 FOX card, is the natural and most logical match-up possible for both men,. But Teixeira asking for it at the April 16 FOX show likely helped his cause in getting the fight and having it on a high profile event. Chiesa, who asked for Tony Ferguson on April 16, after he submitted Beneil Dariush, was officially announced on Sunday as getting the fight he wanted. He’s also getting it in a main event position, on July 13 in Sioux Falls, S.D. With all the …

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