The LVRJ is reporting that UFC 156 is going to get a big addition to an already loaded card with Little Nog-Rashad Evans to compliment the main event of Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar: Alistair Overeem vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida has also been rumored for this card as well.
So far the fight has not been confirmed, however, by Zuffa or fighters from either camp.
Kubryk’s Commentary: Aldo vs. Edgar isn’t going to be a fight that draws a massive box office number without some help on the upper card and this is the type of fight that’ll help bolster it up. Overeem is on the cusp of superstar status in the division but he hasn’t fought since December of 2011; he needs a fight at a minimum to shake off ring rust.
Bigfoot Silva is coming off a big win, as well, and this fight was supposed to happen in the Strikeforce Grand Prix before Overeem withdrew because of injuries. I’m shocked Overeem isn’t getting a title shot right away BUT Daniel Cormier has a fight scheduled nearby to fulfill his Strikeforce contract and Cain Velasquez/JDS is at the end of the year; the title picture will clear up in the next couple months, it seems. Plus it gives Overeem a fight and he’s not coming directly off a failed drug test to challenge for the title.
My guess is that Zuffa wants Overeem in action, and to pass some drug tests as well, as a dry run before he faces the winner of Dos Santos/Velasquez for the title. He cost them money with his failed drug test the last time around and one imagines that a condition of getting Zuffa to trust him again is going through the process without a hiccup.
If Overeem gets past Silva, which isn’t an easy task, and does it without a drug test failure or any shenanigans then one imagines he’ll be contending for the title sooner than later. It feels more like Zuffa needing to see Overeem go through everything with them, and without failing, before they’ll trust him with a title shot again.
